Boss / Assistant
A fireable offense, a fiery read
Sometimes it’s hard to describe why I like and find no ethical problem with the genre of romances set between bosses and their assistants or other employees. With particular books, there’s more to unpack, but as a whole, I think that we can sometimes get needlessly puritan about potentially problematic attraction. We try to construct rules around what is ALWAYS ok and what is NEVER ok, and then pat ourselves on the backs for our upstanding moral choices. But the world is more complicated that, and sometimes things don’t happen perfectly. Nuance exists, and I think in particular these three boss/assistant pairings are excellent additions to the trope.
I’m actually trying my hand at this trope for NaNoWriMo this year… are you also writing like the wind this November? Friend me!
On The Hustle by Adriana Herrera. I’m breaking the curational mold for this recommendation immediately, because technically Alba and Theo aren’t boss/assistant during the course of their romance. Technically, interior designer and book lover Alba, who’s been working for former Olympic swimmer turned real estate mogul (family business) Theo, quits at the start of the book now that she’s finally saved enough money to start her own business. She moves to Dallas from NYC to star in a home improvement reality show to help launch her new work, and of course, her celebrity co-host is none other than Theo, who’s suddenly a lot less Ice King and a lot more Get Into My Bed. So if we’re being technical, this is a workplace/reality TV romance, BUT, because the source of a lot of the angst for both characters was the time during which they were boss/assistant… I’m counting it, and it’s my newsletter.
Of course, Theo being so untouchable and jerkish was part family angst (what? Rich family with a massive family business all working together = drama?? Who could have guessed) and part “man my new assistant is so beautiful, I have to hold myself back from immediately pouncing and being an inappropriate asshole.” No excuse for being outright rude and making her life miserable for the years they worked together, but men do seem to have trouble regulating their emotions.
Alba is, understandably, extremely confused about this new charming Texas version of her former boss, but eventually… well, you know.
Fun detail: Alba’s business is, at least in part, related to her doing book-inspired room makeovers. It feels spiritually connected to last week’s bookstore owner roundup, doesn’t it? We love a heroine who reads.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
A Deal with the Devil by Elizabeth O'Roark. Tali’s had a couple of tough breaks recently, but she’s sure the toughest yet will be filling in for her friend as the temporary assistant to Hayes Flynn, British plastic surgeon to the stars (and more) in Hollywood. He’s a known tyrant (aren’t all bosses), he’s too hot for his own good (and it’s au natural, the bastard), and worst of all, after a bit of digging, he’s got a Tragic Backstory (his ex-fiancé left him for his dad) which is catnip to women with their OWN Tragic Backstory (her ex of ten years cheated on her AND could rarely bring her to orgasm).
They’ve both been jaded by those they loved, and reacted in very different ways, so it’s no surprise it takes these two hot dummies a while to get on the same page, but when they do… oh boy. We’ve also got a deeply romantic sickbed scene, which I am a sucker for, and a heroine who’s trying to be a writer, which I am sadly also a sucker for because of narcissism reasons probably. This is a book about two challenging people challenging each other to be better, to open up, and despite constant miscommunications and false starts, they get there in the end, and it’s very, very satisfying.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Reckless by Stella Rhys. Another rec originally from my friend Christina, who immediately messaged me when she got to the scene where the hero is on the phone and stressed about something and to distract him from his Big Feelings which might endanger Business Things (he’s trying to close a client), the heroine takes her shirt off and then he eats her out while still on the phone, in the middle of their busy office just behind an unlocked door, closing BOTH deals. When he needs to talk, he uses his fingers. It was a whole thing. So of course, I ran, not walked, to read this book, and boy was I not disappointed.
We’ve got Adam, a sports agent famously hard to work for, and AJ, an aspiring sports agent who’s won the dubious honor of being his assistant for five years despite this. They settled into a professionally codependent relationship pretty quickly. Dream team and all that. It helped that, despite AJ being beautiful and Adam being a bit of a player, AJ was in a long term relationship so she was extra Hands Off. Until…. She wasn’t. Her fiance did some stuff (cheated on her, I believe, but the details don’t really matter here) and finally she and her boss, at first to piss off her ex, give into their intense chemistry that’s only grown since they came to both trust and respect each other on top of being attracted to each other.
This book also does a great job showing the intense sexism of the corporate world, let alone the corporate sports world, and the third act breakup is a result of AJ needing space to establish herself in their shared career outside of his considerable shadow, which feels uniquely devastating and satisfying. Come for the bonkers sex, stay for the well-explored take on corporate sexism.
Rating: 4.25/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending some delightful grumpy/sunshine pairings!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!