The Boss by Abigail Barnette
CreateSpace Independent Publishing © 2013
Kindle Edition
Erotica
Reviewed by Leah
I have never read straight out erotica before. I may now have to start. And I am cursing myself explicitly for being two hundred miles away from my boyfriend when I made this damning decision.
Summary:
As an assistant at a very high profile fashion magazine, Sophie's biggest worries usually evolve around the next crises her demanding boss, Gabriella Winters, can come up with. Even the most hectic of Gabriella's most ridiculous demands could not have prepared her for the day her boss was ousted and replaced with Neil Elwood.
A man Sophie had had one hot night with in LA six years prior when running away to Tokyo seemed far less traumatic than attending NYU.
Neil--known as Leif back then--saved Sophie's sanity that night by stealing her ticket to Tokyo and leaving enough money to get her life back on track.
Two years after graduating from NYU, Sophie knows she's got to work her way up at the magazine, and being an assistant is just a stepping stone. It's the kind of life she can handle and she works hard to earn her keep. So it feels like someone just dropped a boulder in her pond when the forty-eight year old Neil Elwood takes over the magazine and becomes her new boss on a day that was supposed to be just like any other.
With this new regime comes a whole new level of growing pains. Especially when it becomes painfully obvious that she and Neil simply can't keep their hands off one another. With a personal brand of directness, Sophie offers a casual relationship with no-strings-attached benefits.
Even as their experiences take them into a safe, trusting D/s relationship, Sophie is falling into even more confusing territory. Knowing herself as well as she does, a serious commitment is not what she's looking for. So falling in love with Neil was the last thing she wanted to do.
To offset the sexual bliss, there are too many changes happening at the magazine far too quickly. Things are bubbling beneath the surface and the friction swallows even Sophie into it. Which is enough for everything she's come to care about to be put at risk.
Initial Thoughts:
I don't read erotica. Some romance books with a few steamy scenes, sure. Full blown erotica? I was a virgin. So knowing that, I still had to read this book because Navessa on GoodReads made me. I was not disappointed.
Characters:
Sophie was so easy for me to relate to. Her voice was blunt and direct and her personality was so very easy to fall into that I was no longer reading. I was experiencing the story through her eyes. As a narrator, there is nothing bad I could possibly say about Sophie.
Neil was the sweetest person in the entire novel, and he was the freaking Dominant. There was no moment of aggression in his relationship with Sophie and he was considerate about all of her needs and desires. He was supportive when he needed to be, but was not a pushover when it came to the important stuff.
Holli was the best friend everyone needs. Tough love and complete understanding. Unobtrusive for the most part, but perfectly nosy at others. It makes me so happy to know that I have friends that are just as awesome as she is.
Plot & Setting
The setting here was NYC, which I don't know anything about. But what was described to me, I could see perfectly. Everything else, I made up in my head as we went along. Which was perfect, because I'm not one for 'down to the paint chips' descriptions.
For the most part, the plot was satisfactory. I liked that the initial contact between Sophie and Neil wasn't a 'boy meets girl and they fall into instalove' reaction. Instead it was an, "Oh shit, I slept with you six years ago and thought I'd never see you again," response.
The sex, of course, was amazing. The building relationship between Neil and Sophie was cute in its own way and the amount of speed involved in it was understandably freaking Sophie out. And when added with the priorities of juggling work and a personal life get jumbled together, it's a realistic amount of stress.
Writing Style:
Since it is written in FPP (First Person Perspective) it's all about the narration here. Which was spot on. Every character was their own unique person. They all had their own issues. And there was nothing in the writing to deviate from Sophie's personality and realistic reactions. This was really a treat to read, as it felt as if I were no longer reading but experiencing everything within the book.
Overall Opinion/Spoiler Section:
Yes, here there be spoilers. Abandon review now.
Still with me? Okay…
First of all, I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Easily would have been a 4.5-5 star book if not for two things. The first of these problems was the obvious reference to the fact that Neil did not at all want kids. He already had a grown adult daughter and his time for raising babies was at an end. So the moment that Sophie spent an entire day puking her guts out over a toilet, I groaned. With all of the other complicated plot devices in place for this book (Sophie's job on the rocks and fighting her feelings for her boss) this seemed like a cheap dramatic device which ultimately sank my enjoyment of this book to a solid 4. Once the pregnancy was revealed, I felt like this had just turned into a literary soap opera.
My other problem with this book was the horrible cliffhanger ending. I fucking HATE when books do this. Even when a book is part of a series, I at least want some form of closure at the end of each book. Not a cliffhanger that literally makes me want think this is the literary version of a soap opera. The new book is just the next episode, but instead of enticing me to continue, I honestly reconsidered whether or not I wanted to continue with the fuckfest. Well, I bought the second book and we'll see how it goes from there.
Anyway, between that cliffhanger and the stupid, unnecessary pregnancy, my full rating of this would be 3.5 stars. Easy. Because I still enjoyed it enough to where I will probably reread this at least once. Or rather … skim my favorite parts from time to time.
A man Sophie had had one hot night with in LA six years prior when running away to Tokyo seemed far less traumatic than attending NYU.
Neil--known as Leif back then--saved Sophie's sanity that night by stealing her ticket to Tokyo and leaving enough money to get her life back on track.
Two years after graduating from NYU, Sophie knows she's got to work her way up at the magazine, and being an assistant is just a stepping stone. It's the kind of life she can handle and she works hard to earn her keep. So it feels like someone just dropped a boulder in her pond when the forty-eight year old Neil Elwood takes over the magazine and becomes her new boss on a day that was supposed to be just like any other.
With this new regime comes a whole new level of growing pains. Especially when it becomes painfully obvious that she and Neil simply can't keep their hands off one another. With a personal brand of directness, Sophie offers a casual relationship with no-strings-attached benefits.
Even as their experiences take them into a safe, trusting D/s relationship, Sophie is falling into even more confusing territory. Knowing herself as well as she does, a serious commitment is not what she's looking for. So falling in love with Neil was the last thing she wanted to do.
To offset the sexual bliss, there are too many changes happening at the magazine far too quickly. Things are bubbling beneath the surface and the friction swallows even Sophie into it. Which is enough for everything she's come to care about to be put at risk.
Initial Thoughts:
I don't read erotica. Some romance books with a few steamy scenes, sure. Full blown erotica? I was a virgin. So knowing that, I still had to read this book because Navessa on GoodReads made me. I was not disappointed.
Characters:
Sophie was so easy for me to relate to. Her voice was blunt and direct and her personality was so very easy to fall into that I was no longer reading. I was experiencing the story through her eyes. As a narrator, there is nothing bad I could possibly say about Sophie.
Neil was the sweetest person in the entire novel, and he was the freaking Dominant. There was no moment of aggression in his relationship with Sophie and he was considerate about all of her needs and desires. He was supportive when he needed to be, but was not a pushover when it came to the important stuff.
Holli was the best friend everyone needs. Tough love and complete understanding. Unobtrusive for the most part, but perfectly nosy at others. It makes me so happy to know that I have friends that are just as awesome as she is.
Plot & Setting
The setting here was NYC, which I don't know anything about. But what was described to me, I could see perfectly. Everything else, I made up in my head as we went along. Which was perfect, because I'm not one for 'down to the paint chips' descriptions.
For the most part, the plot was satisfactory. I liked that the initial contact between Sophie and Neil wasn't a 'boy meets girl and they fall into instalove' reaction. Instead it was an, "Oh shit, I slept with you six years ago and thought I'd never see you again," response.
The sex, of course, was amazing. The building relationship between Neil and Sophie was cute in its own way and the amount of speed involved in it was understandably freaking Sophie out. And when added with the priorities of juggling work and a personal life get jumbled together, it's a realistic amount of stress.
Writing Style:
Since it is written in FPP (First Person Perspective) it's all about the narration here. Which was spot on. Every character was their own unique person. They all had their own issues. And there was nothing in the writing to deviate from Sophie's personality and realistic reactions. This was really a treat to read, as it felt as if I were no longer reading but experiencing everything within the book.
Overall Opinion/Spoiler Section:
Yes, here there be spoilers. Abandon review now.
Still with me? Okay…
First of all, I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Easily would have been a 4.5-5 star book if not for two things. The first of these problems was the obvious reference to the fact that Neil did not at all want kids. He already had a grown adult daughter and his time for raising babies was at an end. So the moment that Sophie spent an entire day puking her guts out over a toilet, I groaned. With all of the other complicated plot devices in place for this book (Sophie's job on the rocks and fighting her feelings for her boss) this seemed like a cheap dramatic device which ultimately sank my enjoyment of this book to a solid 4. Once the pregnancy was revealed, I felt like this had just turned into a literary soap opera.
My other problem with this book was the horrible cliffhanger ending. I fucking HATE when books do this. Even when a book is part of a series, I at least want some form of closure at the end of each book. Not a cliffhanger that literally makes me want think this is the literary version of a soap opera. The new book is just the next episode, but instead of enticing me to continue, I honestly reconsidered whether or not I wanted to continue with the fuckfest. Well, I bought the second book and we'll see how it goes from there.
Anyway, between that cliffhanger and the stupid, unnecessary pregnancy, my full rating of this would be 3.5 stars. Easy. Because I still enjoyed it enough to where I will probably reread this at least once. Or rather … skim my favorite parts from time to time.
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