Probably 3.5 rounded up.
This has been languishing in my TBR for years and I’m glad I finally got to it. It’s sort of enemies-to-lovers, except that the hero never wants to cast himself as the enemy. Mark and Cara were once law school competitors, and she feels that she missed out on a higher-powered career because she didn’t go all out in an interview for law reviewer editor due to her attraction to Mark. Now, he’s been hired into her firm with seniority over her just as she’s about to make partner. It feels like he’s taking her life.
This could be a pretty ugly set-up, but Mark never wants to torpedo Cara’s career and is pretty quick to pick up on the way the firm devalues her, something he never does. They spar, they flirt, they appreciate each other. Cara realizes she needs to change because she’s living the life she “should,” not the one she really wants (Mark changed before he arrived, though how/why is pretty underdeveloped). I thought the book could have dug in more on how Cara changes; the ending is too quick and easy.
The book feels dated in ways I can’t quite put my finger on. Partly it’s the lack of things like texting—it’s from 2003–but I also wonder if this kind of workplace romance in a firm that has a no-fraternization policy just seems less possible to write now. The threat that another associate will use their relationship against them never amounts to anything. I think a lot of writers today would put a different spin on all this, maybe a more overtly feminist edge. But then, Sally Thorne’s Hating Game with its awful workplace behavior was a big hit, so maybe not. (I mostly enjoyed that one as I read but in retrospect....)
I read this on a long plane flight and it was a perfect diversion.