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The Whittingtons #1

The Interview

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When I turn up on Whit’s doorstep, résumé in hand,
I’m expecting an informal interview, not a honey-dripped seduction,
But that doesn’t mean I won’t grab it with both hands…


My older brother’s best friend doesn’t recognize me.
To him, I’m still the kid he sends a gift card to every Christmas.
He doesn’t want to hear I spend them on fancy lingerie,
Or that I dress up and fantasize about him.
He’s determined not to employ me.
But I’m not just looking for a job but also an experience.
The kind that only he can give.
I want our days to be full of secrets and our nights to be full of sin,
For six whole blissful months.
After that, everything will change.
I only hope that when the truth comes out, he can forgive me.

520 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2023

5962 people are currently reading
20918 people want to read

About the author

Donna Alam

43 books2,100 followers
Donna Alam is a #7 Amazon Kindle store and USA Today bestseller. A writer of love stories with heart, humour, and heat, she aspires to sprinkle a little joy into the lives of her readers. When not bashing away at her keyboard, she can often be found hiding from her responsibilities with a book in her hand and a mop of a dog at her feet.

Hear all the news by joining her newsletter below or pop in and say hello in her private reader group, Donna Alam's Lambs.

Lambs - https://bit.ly/DALambs

Donna's Newsletter - https://subscribepage.com/e6z5p6

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5 stars
2,808 (27%)
4 stars
3,033 (29%)
3 stars
2,754 (26%)
2 stars
1,185 (11%)
1 star
619 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 745 reviews
Profile Image for Kate | FocusOnYourShelf.
396 reviews14 followers
April 23, 2023
DNF 13%

I read the first chapter and thought this was going to be a good book, but by chapter 2 that opinion had changed.

The dialogue was very poorly written, the book was really hard to follow, especially the banter between the characters. I was having to reread pages because i was so lost. It seemed like there was a lot of humour in the book but it came off more cringy and confusing and annoying than actually funny.

From what little I read, I really struggled to like the MFC, i just really can’t stand characters who are in their mid twenties yet are super sheltered and on the immature side.

It’s unfortunate, I usually quite enjoy the authors books, but this one is a no.
Profile Image for Terri Zumbrook.
2,800 reviews20 followers
April 15, 2023
THE INTERVIEW started off with a bang and caught my interest immediately. I had a hard time reading it, however. The dialogue was just not very smooth to me. I had to keep tracking back to see who some of the comments were attributable to. If there were more than two in the conversation, it was more difficult to follow.

Finally, I love a book with steam and snarky commentary. In this case the innuendos were overdone and detracted from the story. Overall, I really thought this could be an excellent story with some better content editing.
Profile Image for Aleksia.
450 reviews46 followers
June 12, 2023
It’s ok you can skip this one.
Profile Image for sama🇵🇸.
164 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2023
worse than my life choices really.
i was going to DNF it and i don't know why i didn't.
500 pages of nothing ,poor writing style ,shitty characters, mimi was really naïve and so stupid.
i wanted to throw up a lot while reading this book
Profile Image for Caroline F.
2,387 reviews51 followers
April 20, 2023
Brilliant read! Loved it!

"I have my sights set on a man. A whole lot of man with eyes like a tiger and a bite I want to experience."

When Amelia AKA Mimi Valente comes to England to work for her late older brother's best friend, Leif Whittington AKA Whit, she is very surprised by 'the interview'! LOL. Whit hasn't seen Mimi in years and didn't recognise her. So he's pretty stunned when he realises who she is. And, when it turns out that she's going to be his new assistant, he completely rebels at the idea. Not because he doesn't want her....quite the opposite, in fact. Especially when he has a promise to her brother to keep. Mimi has six months of freedom in London before she returns to Florida. She wants to experience everything London has to offer. She especially wants everything that Whit has to offer. But, maybe not his heart. Or, risk her own.

"The game I want to play is let's unravel Mimi. It's a bit like pass the parcel but with only one player. Me. I get to unwrap each of her layers as I unravel her mind with my filth."

This story was so freakin' HOT! 🔥🔥🔥 Both Mimi and Whit fought like the dickens to keep things sex only but Whit is a natural caretaker of those close to him, and Mimi has had a crush on Whit since forever. I loved Whit. He came across as grumpy but he's really something else in the bedroom. There were so many fun and funny moments in this story. Aside from Whit and Mimi, there was also Whit's brothers and sisters, who were real handfuls, and Mimi's own colourful and elderly Aunt Doreen. Go Aunt Doreen! LOL. Look forward to reading more about Whit's family.

Blog: https://readingwillingable.blogspot.c...

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Profile Image for Reem.
31 reviews
May 27, 2023
DNF’D it. I regret wasting time reading this.
Profile Image for Jess.
16 reviews4 followers
June 9, 2023
I DNFed this book at like chapter 4. The dialogue is so bad. I don’t know what’s going on or who’s talking. I was looking forward to reading this book but I legitimately cannot understand what the fuck is going on.

Just save yourself some time and read something else.
Profile Image for Monique.
452 reviews
Read
May 11, 2023
Started off strong but was way too long for this type of story with over 500 pages. I ended up skimming from half way just to see where it went. It's a shame because I think it could have been a great book if it had been edited down to remove a lot of the surplus info that really wasn't needed and made the story progression drag.

No rating because I didn't properly read it and because it wasn't really a DNF either 🤷
Profile Image for Betsy .
45 reviews
June 9, 2023
Could have been better! The dialogue was very difficult to follow. The author also included texting portions but it wasn’t set up like a normal text chain. Sometimes the narrator would have the left side and then sometime in the middle of the text thread the narrator moved to the right side (like an iPhone does texting). This alone made me not want to continue because I would get so lost.
Profile Image for liz_loves_reading.
341 reviews10 followers
April 17, 2023
I am a sucker for age gap, brothers best friend romances and Donna Alam delivered in spades in The Interview.

I had so much fun reading this, I loved the dynamics between Leif Whittington (Whit) and Amelia Valente (Mimi).

Whit at 36, is twelve years older than Mimi, who he last saw as a teenager, young sister of his best friend Connor... Fast forward 10 years and their initial reunion was a spicy treat.

Their attraction simmered along, until they both couldn't resist each other. There was lots to discover about their hidden motives and deep secrets.

Whit was a total sweetheart and I loved the dichotomy of his 'Daddy' and romantic personas.

"I'm going to do that by delivering the woo. Big time "

The side characters added so much to the story and Aunt Doreen had me in stitches. In addition, it was entertaining to meet the Whittington family, and catching up with Beckett and Olivia.

L O V E D I T ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Profile Image for Maria Arroyo.
307 reviews5 followers
July 1, 2023
I can’t in my own rating scale, ever recommend this book. The dialogue? Awful. The plot? What plot. The dynamic between the characters? Cringe and ick and all the other synonyms. This book is a highly don’t read unless you just want a smut scene in almost every chapter with the most cringe lines.

Profile Image for vivien.
78 reviews
June 6, 2023
this book was so bad it made me irrationally angry
Profile Image for Jezabel Nightingale.
Author 8 books43 followers
May 4, 2023
An absolutely gorgeous story! Loved every moment of the tale, especially the amazing characters. Both acted out of past experiences, yet discovered something about themselves as time went on.
Profile Image for Audrey’s version .
75 reviews63 followers
July 4, 2023
Did this suck? Yes.
Did it have the potential to be a good book? Also, yes.
My biggest problem with this book is: THE EDITING.

• Do you know how bad the writing has to be, for like me to notice? Me, a middle eastern, non-native English speaker? Sooo many typos! At first, I thought maybe this is just too advanced for my broke English bc I wasn’t understanding anything, but then I realized no one is understanding.

• Still, this had the potential to be a good spicy book for BookTok but had to be better edited and completely shortened. In the beginning, I genuinely liked the book, but towards the middle, I got bored and wondered why I’m still reading this book when nothing interesting is happening. So many unnecessary chapters that added no value to the plot. Some parts had to be completely scrabbed off and needed a bigger plot twist. I ended up skimming toward the end just to see what more the author had to write about.

But still, I would say if the writing doesn't bother you, and you have enough time to read absolutely anything and want something just for the spice and the 'protective/possessive' male character, then sure, go for it.

Edit, [spoiler]: I'm sorry, I just remembered when he spanked her with a spatula and I'm dying out of laughter. WTF WAS THAT BRUH? Who in their right mind wakes up one day and decides to use a spatula to spank someone with? I can't even type, I have literal tears in my eyes. Miss Donna, what was the reason for this horrifying scene?



Leif when he sees a spatula:



I'm getting waterboarded bc of the tears that are falling out of my eyes out of laughter.


Profile Image for Donna reads Romance.
1,020 reviews41 followers
April 22, 2023
Deliciously Inviting!!

Holy Moly this book is so sexy and beautiful. From the very first chapter I was ALL in. Every moment of this book is positively HEART-FLUTTERING, HEART-GRIPPING and HEARTWARMING. A real triple threat directed to your heart.

This book met everyone of my expectations and MORE. Donna you NAILED IT with Whit and Mimi’s HIGHLY DELIGHTFUL, wonderfully WITTY and SENSUALLY TANTALIZING story.
You will be fully CONSUMED by these characters and their PROVOCATIVE and ENDEARING story from the beginning to the very end.

This is SUPERB storytelling at its finest!!

Whit and Mimi are such incredibly ENGAGING, PASSIONATE and ALLURING characters with an INVITING, ENTICING and DEEPLY ENTERTAINING storyline.

I for one find this story FASCINATING and REMARKABLE.

Donna congratulations on another incredibly MEMORABLE and OUTSTANDING book.🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Profile Image for Janie Boursier.
69 reviews158 followers
July 19, 2023
Don’t waste your time. Je me suis résignée de le lire à 50 pages de la fin, ça s’en allait nul part 🙃
Profile Image for Janey.
1,317 reviews
May 8, 2023
I’ve not read this author before, but was pleasantly surprised by the snark and steam combo. Will definitely seen out her back catalogue.
Profile Image for Kathy.
204 reviews3 followers
June 20, 2023
After first chapter I thought this book was gonna be great, but then the writing got bad to the point where I didn’t even understand wtf they were saying or talking about. If I could bring myself to DNF a book, it would be this one.
Profile Image for Carolyn Norman.
745 reviews6 followers
September 22, 2023
This is a grumps/sunshine, billionaire, age gap romance. Whit has known Mimi since she was a little girl. He even still sends her a gift card every year for her birthday. However, he’s forgotten that Mimi has grown up.

They meet through a sexual encounter - not giving anything away cause it happens in the first 10-12 pages. And the crazy attraction goes from there.

This was a fun, smutty read. The banter between Whit and Mimi was fun, funny and kept the story moving along. Whit’s relationship with his family is fantastic -how they love each other and how he cares for them.

Of course their is a development that tears Whit and Mimi apart but they do get their HEA.

Instagram and Kindle Unlimited bought this author to my attention. This one was interesting enough that I will read more of her books - from KU of course.
Profile Image for GraceyBookster.
148 reviews3 followers
December 31, 2024
3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I stumbled across this book purely because of Facebook lol. It basically hooked me in because of a clickbait-esk advert in regards to a spicy chapter I then had to seek to find out what happened lol. Basically curiosity got the better of me so I borrowed the book from KU then got hooked.

This book is VERY smutty, practically pure 🌽 lol HOWEVER the storyline is what kept me reading (truly). I found the beginning of the book completely ridiculous in regards to what happened during ‘THAT’ interview but I wanted to find out what happened and then I became totally invested in Amelia and Whit’s story. This had its emotional moments and a much a deeper story behind all the sex. I also kept reading as I wanted to find out Amelia’s secret - although I pretty much guessed why she didn’t want to fall in love…

Overall, if you’re after a really smutty book with a billionaire/boss/brothers best friend/ touch her and die, romance then this will tick those boxes 😂😂 The epilogue really made me laugh out loud with the last sentence 👍🏻 😂
Profile Image for Chaos.
3,442 reviews113 followers
April 12, 2024
I really liked Mimi as a main character. I didn't like how sheltered she was and how overprotective her parents were. I understood why they were, but the power dynamic between Mimi and Leif was so off. I'm not the biggest fan of inexperienced FMC going all in with a much older experience MMC. But their chemistry is hard to deny. It was there. It was spicy. It was hot. And that's about all I liked about the book. The dialogue between all the characters, even the side characters, was extremely clunky and weird. It didn't fit. Also, I really was hoping for more plot. It was 500 pages of pretty much smut. Hardly any plot. And with a book as long as this, there needs to be more plot.
Profile Image for Natalie Brown.
631 reviews37 followers
November 29, 2024
Audiobook Review

I enjoyed this book, and the narrators did a fantastic job at bringing the characters to life and made me enjoy the book even more.

Mimi and Whit had some good chemistry, and I liked their characters. I felt like the ending was slightly rushed as we found everything out that Mimi had been keeping from Whit in the last couple of chapters.

The spice was off the charts Mimi and Whit couldn't keep their hands off each other. The side characters we meet all seemed good and would like to k own more about them.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I will definitely be checking out more of her books soon.
Profile Image for The Books and me.
493 reviews64 followers
February 20, 2024
¿Que le enseñe mis bragas?..¿que quééé?😳🤭

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
✅Mejor amigo de su hermano
✅Jefe/empleada
✅Grumpy x sunshina
✅Escenas súper hot
✨Una comedia romántica en toda regla😍. Mimi: es refrescante, no tiene filtro, es alegre y tiene una tremenda curiosidad por los temas sexuales o deseo descarado?😏que Leif no quiere saber pero a la vez si quiere🤭
✨La trama te sube y te baja, te ríes, suspiras y te acaloras (porque tiene unas escenas spicy que ufff 💦🥵🔥), pero cuando se acerca ese giro inesperado es💔❤️‍🩹🥺te trae abajo pero para cerrar con broche de oro.. la escena final en el parque🥹me he reído con lágrimas en los ojos🥹😍❤️
✨Los personajes secundarias son irreverentes, divertidos y una locura!.. él con su tribu de 7 hermanos y su madre manipuladora😂y Ella con una tía que vive la vida por los pelos, logran sacarte más de una carcajada😂

Es una historia completa, toca temas importantes: seres queridos que ya no están pero que siguen presentes, muuuucha familia😂y sobre todo que enseña a que tener miedo esta bien, siempre que sepas reaccionar ante el😉

¡Recomendada!
Profile Image for Sissy's Romance Book Review .
8,992 reviews16 followers
April 16, 2023
The Interview by Donna Alam is the story of Whit and Amelia.
Amelia has been there for her family after her brother's passing. But now she wants to break free and do something exciting to mover her life forward. So, she goes to London to see if she can get a job with Whit who was her brothers friend. But things get off on the wrong foot or do they? Enjoyed.



Profile Image for Rachel Nahabedian.
790 reviews21 followers
December 9, 2024
3.75 stars

Let's start with what I loved. This was steamy...the chemistry between Whit and Amelia was hot. The banter they have is so freaking great. The struggle Whit has with keeping away from Amelia and why was fun to watch dissolve. Aunt Doreen! I want to grow up and be an older woman just like her. She had me in stitches. The family banter and dynamic with the Wittingtons was hilarious at times. The drama around Amelia and that third-act break up! Lord, have mercy be still my heart! I ate up the book for all these alone. Had this been it, 5-stars no questions.

Also, special shout out to Aria Holland and Elliot Matthews for the banging audio narration! Elliot Matthews could read the phone book and it'd still be sexy. The way he said "Amelia" as a warning and a promise had me shifting in my seat.

On to what I struggled with. The initial "interview" at the very beginning...while being very, very hot and I kinda get why Amelia would've gone through with it, I don't find it 100% believable that Whit didn't at least figure out that she wasn't who he was expecting (I bought that he didn't know who she was). The dialogue is a little choppy and it was a little tough for me to follow who was saying what to whom. If I wasn't 100% focused on the book, I sometimes had to go back and re-read. There also seemed to be one too many family members in this. This is book 1 and I was struggling to keep them all straight. Especially since it seems like everyone had nick names. Sometimes I feel like I missed something or that maybe they were introduced in a previous book that I just hadn't read, but, again, first in the series, so I'm just a little confused.

While it may seem like there was more I struggled with than what I loved, the mentioned things I loved were far more of the book than what I struggled with. Also, a lot of what I struggled with could've been a me issue. It's been a rough few months and I've been a little distracted. All in all, I'm glad I read this book and the spice was exactly what I wanted from this book and Donna delivered!

Thank you, Donna Alam and Hambright PR for the ARC.
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