[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Carey has been working for Melly and Rusty Tripp for ten years. She was 16 when she started working in their shop in Jackson Hole. Now they are nationally recognized celebrities with TV shows and best selling books.
James applied to be the head engineer for the Tripps’ TV show. He needs this job because his last one went up in flames when the arrests started happening. He’s not exactly sure how he went from engineer to personal assistant, but that’s what role he falls into these days.
Carey and James had been looking forward to sending their bosses off on a long book tour so they could get a little break from the work – and the couple. But on the eve of the launch for the Tripps’ marriage and relationship book, Carey and James catch Rusty with another woman. The powers that be decide that Carey and James must go on the book tour, too. They have to wrangle the Tripps and keep the public and the media from discovering how fractured their relationship is. If Carey and James fail at this, everything the Tripps have built could go off the rails and leave the two assistants with nothing.
Review
I thoroughly enjoyed this! The premise is terrific. The Tripps are a hot mess of ego and expectation, manipulation and malice. And at the start, Carey and James feel completely stuck. By the end the reader realizes that Carey is less stuck by her circumstances than she thinks she is. Maybe her issues are more learned-helplessness related. She thinks the abuse and manipulation is what she has to endure because she doesn’t think she has any other choices in her life.
James and Carey are a delight. They might be my favorite Christina Lauren couple from the books I have read so far. They go from strangers to “misery-loves-company” coworkers, before the chemistry between them evolves. And it’s terrific.
There are notes from a police interview scattered throughout the book. I’m not convinced they were essential to the story. They foreshadow that something big is coming. And they also made for something of a division between “before” and “after.” But I think the story would have worked without it, too.
Fans of this writing duo’s work should be sure to check this one out – as should fans of general contemporary romance. This one was a lot of fun to read! (Language, sex)