Review: Love's second chance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 15, 2013
WINNING THE BOSS'S HEART wasn't what I expected at all and fit with none of my preconceptions of 80s Harlequin romance centered about a stereotypical boss/secretary courtship. This contemporary romance takes place in the intimate setting of a live-in architectural renovation. The author has a solid style—active voice, smooth pacing, and excellent flow. The dialogue gives good ear and the word choice is crisp and vibrant. (Man Magic, hee!)Billie McCloud is a smart, driven widow who needs to take a short-term admin job in order to pay her tuition to culinary school. She's sentimental about the small town she lives in, which is the only real home she's known following a bohemian childhood with her single mother. She craves permanence, stability and the sense of home derived from tradition and history. She has romanticized the historical home that Mason Christian wants to renovate into a "minimalist retreat".Initially, I didn't like Mason very much. He came across as cold, distant and arrogant. His redeeming quality seemed to be his willingness to tolerate/show affection for the heroine's slobbering Great Dane. His icy facade cracks as the story progresses and the reader discovers a man who has suffered a great personal loss. His infant daughter died of SIDS and his wife left him, so he has built his fortress of solitude and dedicated his life to his work. Deep down, he's a considerate lover, a kind soul and desperately in need of love.I loved how Billie shook up Mason's orderly existence with her unconventional whimsy. The author adds an excellent zap of humor with the string of nicknames the heroine slaps on the hero. Sexual tension sizzles between the pair and intimate scenes are spicy. The hero and heroine are obviously meant together and the HEA-ending will not disappoint.I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.