“She knew where she stood in the corporate setting, knew how to stay in control and get shit done. But here? In the place that had eaten up every waking moment of her dad’s life from the day her mother died? She’d spent so long resenting this place she didn’t know where to begin.”
Vivien was angsty and troubled, and with good reason, as she’s being forced into temporarily taking over the family company as CEO after her father’s death. Returning to Texas for two weeks to appoint a new CEO was a hardship for her, both because her job in NYC couldn’t seem to understand the purpose of bereavement leave and leave her alone and also because it brought back bad memories of being ignored by her father, Jed, in favor of the company or her sister, Greer. The last thing she expected was to fall for Liam, the creative director and her father’s star employee. Liam was such a cute, nerdy cinnamon roll. He’s handsome, smart and he knows how to cook – how could anyone resist? I certainly can’t – I married one! I thought he was also exceedingly patient with Vivien, especially given her tendency to run away when things get uncomfortable for her (one of my personal pet peeves).
As the story progresses, we find out more about Vivien and Jed’s relationship. One of my favorite parts was the revelation of how differently the main characters viewed Jed – Vivien, Liam and Greer have each had such different experiences with him, and each experience is treated as valid. I also liked watching Vivien and Greer try to figure out how to have a real relationship.
While the character development was great, the weakest part of the story was the mystery. It was hit-you-over-the-head obvious who the villain was. I also didn’t care for the fact that Liam kept a very important bit of information from Vivien. I understood his reasons – and even Vivien agreed with them in the end! – but I’m not a fan of the keeping-things-from-the-hero/heroine trope, and I was glad that it didn’t play that much of a part in the big misunderstanding.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this very much, and I’m hoping that there will be a sequel with Greer! If you like nerdy cinnamon roll heroes and lots of angst, you’ll love this book!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.