Review of Hard for my Boss by Daryl Banner

by Daryl Banner

3.5 stars

Benjamin Gage is not only powerful, filthy rich, and totally arrogant... but also irresistibly sexy.

Trevor, the young summer intern, is totally SCREWED.
Working at Gage Communications is an opportunity of a lifetime.
But will Trevor be able to handle it? Or will he succumb to the tension?
The tension is in his pants, by the way.
Between a heavy workload and a hunky, controlling boss, Trevor's summer just got a lot hotter and harder than he bargained for.

We are new to Daryl Banner’s work, and so glad a friend introduced us because Hard for my Boss is a fun, flirty, sexy read that kept our attention cover to cover.  Let’s be honest Hard for my Boss hits all the cliché tropes: intern falling for the boss, alpha billionaire falling for the nerdy awkward guy, or how about a May December Romance?  Yes, Hard for my Boss is all those things, not original at all, but it is a fun book. 

What did we love?  The dual POV’s are great, we LOVE hearing where each character is coming from.  It kept this book moving, and kept the voice always changing which worked when the tropes became a little too much.  Hard for my Boss is funny, we laughed out loud, Trevor is awkward, a nerdy fellow who struggles in social situations, and he made us laugh.  The characters are will written, Daryl created 2 very different main characters with very distinct voices, and at no time were we confused about who’s POV we were reading – such a plus. And it is SEXY, although Trevor is inexperienced but the chemistry is scorching, melting, blistering, and we blushed! 

Truth,  what turned us off?  The tropes, although fun, they did get a bit much.  Trevor is a student, an intern, young, inexperienced, broke, and Ben is the complete opposite, rich, powerful, older, has his life together, it became a bit over the top.  And although the story is fun and flirty, there were a few head scratching moments. 

Daryl Banner’s Hot for my Boss, is an easy read, the characters are great, the banter is fun and the writing has a great flow.  If you can get over the MANY tropes and just enjoy, it is a must read!

Review of Married to the Manny by Daisy May

by Daisy May

2 stars

"I don't want to leave this country. I don't want to leave my boss."

When the American government finds out Gordon's here illegally, he fears he'll have to leave the precocious nine-year-old girl he nannies - as well as her single, gay DILF of a father. Gordon's always kept his relationship with his employer professional, and now he'll have no chance to change that. Except...

"If you married a citizen, you could get a green card."

Cole makes the proposal out of concern for his daughter. She adores her manny, and Cole doesn't want to shake up her life again. The offer has nothing to do with the attraction Cole's always felt for the sweet Canadian caregiver.

"The entire world has to believe we're in love."

As Gordon and Cole strive to portray a realistic relationship, both of them fight their growing feelings. Will their fake marriage become real enough to convince the immigration office?

With such a great premise – marry for a green card – we had such high hopes for Married to the Manny, but they all fell short.

Gordon is a nanny, a Canadian that is working in the USA illegally.  Immigration finally catches up with him with a deportation notice for 90 days.  He doesn’t want to leave his life and his job, and really loves the little girl he is looking after, not to mention his sexy boss, Cole.  But, Cole has an idea to get Gordon a green card – they get married.

Seriously, how could this book not be great? Friends to lovers, slow burn, all good.  But, it really had some major issues, not little things, but story ideas that almost made this a did-not-finish.  Married to the Manny is a 2 person point of view, but the voices are confusing, we had to go back a few times to figure out who was speaking.  And really with a younger man and an accomplished business man there should be some differences in their voices – right?

There is also the romance of Married to the Manny.  This is not a new story idea, getting married for a green card, but we really miss the slow burn of a romance building.  They both seem to be already in love with each other, and not seeing the signs that the other feels the same way.  They seem to get stuck in their heads.  They are insecure – and instead of one of them taking control they seem to go around and around in a circle.  Even after they finally admit their feeling and fall into bed, the next page that are back to the same angsty thoughts that the other doesn’t reciprocate.  And around around we go. The same goes for their chemistry – or rather lack thereof.  We don’t actually see the attraction building between Gordon and Cole. We didn’t feel the pull of their relationship; rather it felt forced and fake.

There is also some very uncomfortable issues with Cole’s daughter – and we won’t talk more about it as it is a spoiler, but there is uncalled for pressure put upon a 9 year old that as a parent is irresponsible and selfish.  The whole thing left a very bad taste in our mouth.

Unfortunately Married to the Manny just didn’t work for us. With the lack of chemistry, POV confusion and our issues with the role of a child, we struggled to finish this story.