Brushing Off Business

by Amira Danali

Alina Bennet, a high-powered business executive, is always in control—until a mortifying mix-up at a baby shower and a sneezing fit in a cramped elevator change everything. Enter Max, a free-spirited painter with the sunny disposition of a golden retriever, who sneezes his way into her life and throws her meticulously planned world into chaos.

Initially prickly and annoyed, Alina finds herself in charge of Max's art installation project for her office. Forced to work closely together, Max's infectious optimism and charm slowly chip away at her rigid exterior. Despite their different lifestyles, Alina begins to see the joy in Max's spontaneous approach to life, and he, in turn, helps her loosen up and embrace the unexpected.

As deadlines loom and sparks fly, Alina and Max must navigate their growing attraction and bridge the gap between their contrasting worlds. Can they overcome the chaos and find common ground in love, or will their differences be too much to brush off?

Full of laugh-out-loud moments, heartfelt revelations, and a touch of artistic flair, “Brushing Off Business” is a romantic comedy that proves love is the ultimate masterpiece. It is the first book in a planned four book, interconnected, standalone romance series.

Genres: Romance, Love, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Rom Com

302 pages, Paperback

Published August 7, 2024

About the author

Hi! Welcome to my author's page. Since I've recently aqcuired a degree in Industrial Engineering, I'm all about efficiency. Therefore, I will just be taking my bio straight from my 'About the Author' section of my book. Thank you guys for getting to know me :)

Amira Danali is a pen name for a 21-year-old girl who took up a bunch of big projects the summer after graduation because she wanted to do everything possible before starting her official adult life. She is a lover of cheesy romances, late night Taco Bell runs, spontaneous trips with friends, and trying new things. A billion new things. All at once.

Currently, she is editing her second book, writing her third book, crocheting a mandala blanket for her mom, planning her move, trying to figure out life, reading through her TBR list, researching places in Boston, and making her way through the Star Wars movies.

Reviews

[Olivia Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry the main character she was literally insufferable…and where was the plot?

[Tati’s Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely OBSESSED with this book. This is all I’ve been talking on my tiktok lately lol. The CUTEST romcom I’ve ever read and experienced. I would LOVE to see this be made into a movie one day🥹 This writing was so well done, the pacing of the story was PERFECT. I really appreciated the romance in this book and how it depicted what a healthy relationship should look like, none of that toxic behavior. I just really appreciated the writing and the plot. I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars!! OH YEAH ALSO no buggies but found a new favorite book bf!! Ugh absolutely adore him so much (,: Basically of y’all haven’t read this book, what are you doing???? Can’t wait to read the second one 💖

[McKenna Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t love this. I didn’t really feel a connection with the main characters and their love story. It was just meh for me.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt very choppy. I did enjoy parts of it but just overall it felt really underdeveloped and like the author couldn’t really decide what she wanted the plot to be

[sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is possibly the healthiest relationship i’ve ever read about omg max reynolds you work for me now

[Safa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Alina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacked so much substance. MMC barely had any personality. Introduced many subplots just not fully go into it or bring it up again. The author just expected us to like character and couples because she tells us they are good people. So many moments where it feels like inexperienced writing.



spoilers ahead





bad writing
- 1st scene led me to believe that either fmc is a crappy friend or not that close to her best friend. what do you mean you thought you best friend’s baby shower was her wedding shower when she’s been engaged for 3 yrs and has no wedding date set and like 6 months pregnant. Also wouldn’t a baby shower something you discuss with a friend who you have bi-weekly wine nights with.
- many point where she tells us about conversations she is having in real time but doesn’t show it (when she tells him to stay long and ‘his eyes light up’ is the only example i can think of of the top of my head.
- the beginning half of the book made me think the dad and sister were going to play a bigger or even just a part in the story (felt like the author didn’t want to bother)
- why have the mom show up if it’s not further addressed beyond one conversation that night and not even how it impacted fmc just how it impacted their relationship. (this also was a part were the mmc whose personality is basically being the perfect guy is pretty pushy about something that is obviously traumatic for her and he selfishly is only interested in how it’s going to impact their relationship)

pet peeves
- has fmc be workaholic just to give up their job in the end because ‘they never like it anyway’ (read like 3 book recently with this plot)
- have character get sick twice in the book. get that it’s a trope that people like (even i really enjoy it) but twice feels forced and wasteful

I actually don’t know why i had so many opinions about this book because it actually wasn’t a hate read or a book i considered dnfing. Just notice many mistakes throughout and the last 15% was actually awful.

[chummyfan · Rating 1 out of 5]

i had to force myself to finish this book. the whole book just being alina refusing to even try on the relationship while he grasped on to threads was so frustrating. despite her frustrating me, at least she had a personality. unlike the man who’s name i don’t remember anymore who literally was just nice. like his whole personality was just being nice

[Mahera · Rating 2 out of 5]

es war ein kampf. boooooring

[Yelim · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book had me smiling ear to ear! such a cute romcom

[Ameira · Rating 2 out of 5]

read

Read to 35%
This started off really good / the banter in the elevator was really good
But that’s really all and now I’m at 35% and they barely speak - more MFC inner monologue
It just becomes stagnant
I know she has some vague issues that aren’t really disclosed
But the fact she kept saying she gets an offf feels about mmc put me off (cause he was always nice )
So sadly I don’t think I can continue the care factor has gone.

[Erika Melgar · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was alright. I feel like there were parts that were a little repetitive and unnecessary. I can relate with Alina’s fear of abandonment. I’m obsessed with Max and how he called her ‘angel’ and ‘beautiful’.

[Olivia]

This book was so bad. I got it because it was only a few dollars on kindle and I want my money back. I was laughing half the time because of how poorly written and bad the writing was. The concept for the story was a good one the execution was just not there

[Olivia Giuffrida]

DNF.. for now

[Lara · Rating 1 out of 5]

primero fue tierno y después medio que me aburrió. el concepto estaba bueno pero le faltó emoción.

[ShamourRead]

dnf..
I could not bring myself to finish this book. Since starting this, i have read three other books. Perhaps it’s because the FMC is slightly annoying idk. I gave up
Love max though

[cristinareadsbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Amber Bromet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really sweet read with a small touch of spice. All the characters in this book are so lovable, and it’s a quick and easy romance read. I didn’t, personally, feel super connected to the FMC or MMC, which would have increased my rating, I just felt like I needed a little more to understand or know them better and have more buy-in with their relationship.

I loved the short chapters and fast pace. I loved reading about their different careers and how they converged working on a project together.

Their friendships and relationships with their friend groups were super precious, I thought this was a super nice touch to the book and their story.

I appreciated and enjoyed dashes of humor throughout (thanks Kait), and Max is a gem!

Overall I really enjoyed this authors writing style, the book just didn’t “floor” me.

Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for the opportunity to an advanced reader copy for my honest review.

[Kayla Schoelkopf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grumpy/sunshine but the grumpy is an insufferable workaholic girlboss with little to no character development throughout the whole story. Alina is addicted to her work, and Max is a talented artist who gets assigned to revamp Alina’s office space.

One thing leads to another and they fall in love except Alina SUCKS and can barely give her sweet boyfriend a second out of the day, meanwhile he’s being an angel and going above and beyond. Her character was just so unlikable, so much “woe is me, I can’t commit” self-pity.

Of course, like any love story, they end up together but I am NOT happy about it. Max deserves better. Oh, and there was little-no plot this entire book🫡

[bookwormjess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Not typically the type of book i go for but it was def fun! a palette cleanser for all the dark depressing shit i usually read. Some times it was kinda cringey lol but it’s ok i think that’s the point of these type of books lol

[sofja · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute. next.

[Wessede Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading it. It was nice seeing the growth of the main character.

[Maï · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️/5⭐️

J'entends que c'est le 1er livre de l'auteure mais je note toujours équitablement, 1er ou dernier 😊🙌

Ce livre était simplement mal écrit.
Les idées étaient bonnes mais juste tellement mal exécutées.

Je vais parler de 7 différents points (+1 en mention spéciale en bas) :

- On a une FMC absolument chiatique et insipide. C'est une meuf qui passe sa vie au travail, qui ne fait que ça, ça parle tout le temps de ses projets en cours et ses deadlines mais de la manière la plus boring qui soit. Sur tous ses projets, on sait juste qu'elle en avait un d'expansion mais rien sur le reste. Et si le sujet de ses projets doit prendre autant de place, il mérite plus de détails, plus de travail pour qu'en tant que lecteurs, on comprenne ce qu'il se passait dans sa tête, pourquoi ça l'a fatiguait autant. Pcq là du coup, l'auteure mentionne son travail encore et encore mais sans rien précisé. Ça fait juste du filler dont on s'en bat les reins au final. Si c'est pour faire ça, dis 'qu'elle a quitté le travail et qu'elle est fatigué de sa journée occupé par les même charges que celle d'avant'. Hop, on gagne des pages pour essayer de lui donner un savoir vivre et une decent personnalité à celle-là.

- Oe oe, qu'elle est chiante pitié. À quel moment, tu vois un mec qui n'a été que gentil, poli, courtois et charmant envers toi, et tu penses "ah mais qu'est-ce qu'il fait là au lieu d'aller s'amuser a pourrir la vie des gens en les contaminant"?????????? Mais y'a pas à créer un antagoniste alors qu'il faut te regarder dans le miroir ma belle en fait. Même au début quand elle se demande ce qu'il fout dans l'ascenseur et qu'elle lui en veut, lui le mec qui habite dans le bâtiment et pas elle. Et elle dit "il a personne pour prendre soin de lui ou quoi?" bah. Ça se dit ça même? Ça se pense??? Msk imagine il a vraiment personne, tu vas faire quoi? Lui pisser dessus pcq il est seul au monde?? Mais ça va pas ou quoi là.

- Bref, après on a Max le golden retriever. Ça, il l'était mais c'est surtout patient qu'il était pour vouloir se coltiner ce monstre femelle. Vraiment, chic type, super sympa. L'auteure a écrit ses personnage de façon à ce que, personnellement, je voulais juste que Max se taille et trouve une meuf à sa hauteur. Alors peut-être que lui voyant quelque chose en elle qu'on voyait pas pcq il la voyait 'irl' mais de mon pdv de lectrice avec les 2 pov, la FMC était juste désagréable. Mais ça va Max, peut-être un peu maso mais alright.

- Aussi, les scènes de smut. Yuck. Nan vraiment autant ne pas les publier et les garder pour soi ou les poster discretos sur ao3???? Le smut c'est toujours délicat entre déjà, ceux que ça ne dérangent pas, ceux qui adorent ça et ceux qui n'aiment vrmt pas. Mais alors là... Max est un golden retriever through and through. Tellement que, au lit, sa mauvaise transition en pseudo doberman était juste cringe periodt. Genre d'un coup le mec "bashful" devient un dom? Sans transition? Not on my watch. Ça faisait juste de lui un mec qui prend soudainement et seulement au lit, une confiance, tu sais pas d'où elle sort. J'entends que c'est réel mais une transition pitié, des indices ici et là qui montrent qu'il peut ne pas dégager seulement une énergie sub. Pcq avec sa façon d'être, le mec était clairement un sub. Quant à Alina, c'est quoi cette fixette sur sa drôle de culotte mouillée là??? Et again, le "for some reason" (taper les mots en recherche dans le livre et soyez choqués avec moi 😀) par flemme d'expliquer ou juste pour écrire inutilement : "his gaze dark and sinful. This was a whole different side of him I hadn't seen before. For some reason, it was making my panties drenched." Alors non du coup, un peu de réalisme dans cette contemporary romance, c'est pas un regard qui rend 'drenched', c'est tout le foreplay avant. Ce qu'il n'y a pas dans cette scène. Ils sont chill sur le canap, kiss, il la porte et l'allonge sur le lit, il la regarde avec désire et hop, elle est 'drenched'. Bah non. À la rigueur, tu commences à mouiller par anticipation et désire mais t'es pas drenched. (le mot est utilisé deux fois). Aussi et faut en parlait, la connotation des mots. 'drenched' je l'utiliserais plus pour une romance tournée sur le smut qu'une 'cute CR'. Quelque chose de plus dirty quoi. Il aurait fallu utiliser le mot 'soaked' ou le classique 'wet' pour faire cette erreur pcq là, imo, ça en fait 2. #lowkeyGNT.

- Max l'artiste, l'art comme le travail d'Alina qui prend une place centrale dans ce récit et vous savez quoi? Bah c'était mal décrit et les réactions répétées. Vraiment dommage. C'est la passion de Max, ça aurait été bien de l'entendre parler de ses oeuvres et décrire le processus ou quoi, plutôt que de lui faire demander à Alina ce qu'elle en pense et qu'elle décrive tout pareil:
-"capturing the essence of the company's innovative spirit"
-"captured the essence of our project perfectly"
-"You've really captured the essence of GenTech"
-"it's like you've captured the essence of innovation"
Moi j'dis, ça aurait pu être sympa d'essayer de créer un rythme tout le long du livre en jouant sur le champ lexical de l'art pour décrire la everyday life. Là c'était juste redondant et encore redondant. Comme son corporate job yep.

- Quant aux raisons qui expliquent le comportement d'Alina... pas assez. Elles sont bonnes dans le fond, la relation familiale détermine tellement dans la vie et comportement de ceux autour mais encore une fois, c'était juste mal décrit, mal exprimé. Du coup nope, pour moi, ça n'a pas aidé à vouloir prendre Alina sous mon aile et lui pardonner sa rudeness. Elle est rude point barre. Et non, c'est pas charmant quand c'est face à un mec comme Max qui est juste bon. Face à un asshole comme Dante Russo (king of wrath, my current reading quand je tape cette review), ça peut fonctionner mais face à un Max, on dirait un bully qui s'acharne sur un cutie puppy, vraiment pas aimante 🤢

- J'en viens à ses parents et notamment l'interaction super random avec sa mère. Genre c'est tout??? Vraiment? Vis-à-vis d'elle et de son père, c'est tout? On ne sait même pas si elle en a parlé avec lui de cette rencontre, si elle a essayé de lui ouvrir les yeux pcq oui ma belle, nous on aimerait bien que le papa se libère et kiff la vie sans attendre une meuf qui, vu la very curt rencontre, en a tellement rien à battre. D'ailleurs, si c'était pour ce résultat, valait mieux ne pas écrire ce moment... Il était irrelevant finalement. Du coup, y'a sa mère qui kiff la vie et le père qui reste coincé alors qu'il est tout mim's? Mouais, vraiment, fallait garder la scène en draft imo.

Bref, je ne recommande pas ce livre. Vraiment dommage pcq j'avait vraiment hâte de lire à nouveau une cute CR. En tant qu'amateure d'art et de la profondeur de l'âme d'un artiste (Max ici), j'en attendais vraiment beaucoup plus. Si un jour il est réécrit et qu'on me promet que c'est la bonne cette fois-ci... oe nan, le emotional damage is already done 🫡

Passez votre chemin :*


✨Mentions spéciales :✨

- Alina décrite comme un 'sympathy crier' -tapez les mots encore une fois vous verrez- tout le long du livre, qui explique pourquoi elle a vraiment la larme facile :
"I used to never cry before I met him. It was like he unlocked something in me that made me feel everything more intensely."
Consistency anyone???? C'est un des traits de caractère que l'auteure nous rabâches sur elle pour justifier ses larmes, tout ça pour le nier mtn? Pour maladroitement montrer qu'avec lui, elle est devenue plus acutely aware de ses émotions qu'avant elle ne savait pas gérer?? Nan, ça passe pas ici. Ici, on lit, on retient ce qui est dit et conclut. Conclusion: no ❤️
#no

- Alina qui est autant cringe que Bella Swan dans les films Twilight 😬 ; dialogue entre Emmy et Alina :
"He let you in, we all let you in, and you cut him off like he was nothing! How could you do that?"
"I HAD TO!" My voice raised, breaking softly at my words.
Voici Alina le gros bébé ouin ouin en pleine crise live 😭

[Jana Ivanković · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear God, I literally couldn't wait to finish this book. I saw really good rewievs of this one and it showed me AGAIN not to trust booktok🥲
I had HIGH hopes and maybe that is why I disliked this book so much, but it was so.fucking.borring! There was no plot (or the plot was when she dumped him and they got back together in like 7 and a half pages?). The most irritating thing is definitely the main character, okay I understand she was traumatized and she had hard time growing up, but girl come on, he was literally walking green flag and you were still like oH mY GoD HoW cAn I kNoW hE wOn'T DumP mE LikE eVerYonE eLsE??? I'm gonna say it again, I KNOW SHE HAD ISSUES, but she was so rude and unfair to Max, and he was the sweetest man alive. Also, the ending was so rushed up, everything happened in few pages and before I knew it, I was on the last page. I really wanted more, I hoped it would get better the deeper I was into the book, but I ended up dissapointed.
So yeah, if you are thirsty for good plot and some great story that would make you unable to put that book down, I would definitely NOT recommend this one.💔

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So sweet. I feared for a bit there was going to be a third-act breakup, but there was just a little bit of angst! Just a touch to spice things up (although there's plenty of spice). 

The book opens with a very romcom scene, setting up the mood just right for the rest to come, and I think the first chapter did a good job at giving us a taste of how the writing was going to be. Great work.
The chemistry was amazing, and the friendships were well-fleshed out, even though this was a bit of a short book. Max is absolutely the most golden retriever MC I have ever read; his descriptions were top-notch.

Absolutely every character in here is the most lovable person you'll ever read about, but of course my favourite was Max; I hate that the author made me develop a huge crush on him! Not fair. 

[Ana Portillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly think this book was written by Chat GPT. There was absolutely no substance to the characters and there was no beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and/or end... as in.. the basic things that come within a story!! At one point, the same exact sentence was repeated twice, right next to each other!!

Max is supposed to be a big flag, and he is (I say that very loosely), but thats all he is.. like he's an artist with bare minimum depth!!!! And Alina I think is her name??? There's no real depth to her!! Thats why I swear this book with written by Chat GPT: "chat can you please right me a 40 chapter book with the MFC being a green flag and he's and artist and the FFC having mommy issues and is the grey cloud in the story."

IDK I cant even say that I hate this book because I didnt, it was just a waste of time and pointless.

rating: 2/5

[Carolyn Susanto · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally by far the hardest to finish book I've ever read. I appreciate how the author build up Max's personality, and the golden retriever vibe definitely shows but that's about it. The main character just wasn't doing it for me and the plot is literally non existent. It was recommended to me as a light read but this one just kept me yawning.

[riri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a meehh book.

First I wanted give the book a 3, but towards the end, reflecting some bit and reading some reviews I soon understood this can't reach 3, otherwise I wouldn't have skipped pages because I was so bored. Maybe 2,5..

The main problem with the book (that many have adressed) is there were so many subplots that didn't fully get evolved. I really was so bored some times because nothing happens, yeah Max was cute and a green flag sure, but he was so "nice" that it eventually felt fake. No person is all nice and bubbly, rainbow, saying all the right things every single time that is papper good, like in real life that wouldn't have naturally been said. But however lets say Max is suppose to be the cute/nice guy, than the author needs to bring more angst, drama into it so we could make use of Max character. I didn't like how the whole story was so above the surface and nothing kept happening. It was so slow that I got excited when they "broke" up (for like 5 pages) haha..

Another thing that was bum, was how the mother showed up, and it got adressed and forgotten in 2 pages, literally in the epilogue it was mentioned in one sentences. Like how did she recover that? when that has been her fear for years? And how easily she left her job, when that has also been her whole life, I dunno maybe it was too little emotions and lack of describtions that made me not understand the people in the book. Because like it had such a good start, with the baby shower, elevator scene etc, but than we got to half of the book and they are already together and nothing exciting is happening, even though many scenes were cute and I enjoyed myself.

I just wanted so much more to happen, not only talk about wine wine wine, food, food, food for like 200 pages.

And even the part were the is sickness 2 times in the book

or how a fake emergency comes up, one from her father because he wanted to spend time with her or when her friend wrote dolphin? because she was MIA.. Once would have been enough to make it good, but more than that the book gets too repetitive..

So like not a horrible book, but very meehh
Wouldn't recommend or read it again

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute Read

3.5 ⭐️
1.5-2 🌶️

Alina has trust and abandonment issues due to her mother’s abandonment of her family as a child and has never really given her heart to anyone. She’s worked her hiney off to be excelling at a tech company in the corporate world when a guy in an elevator sneezes a bit too much and spreads his germs and begins to rock her world. Enter Max. The elevator sneezer. Max happens to be the artist who was chosen to update the company logo/branding of the company Alina works for. Alina gets chosen to be the one to work with Max and he slowly breaks down her walls and lets some color in.
——
I absolutely loved the paint splatter fight scene and could see it playing out in my head! I thought this was a really cute, easy to read summer romance novel. A little bit of opposites attract. Always love a golden retriever MMC. There were some spelling/grammar errors that threw me off (crowd being spelled incorrectly and correctly in the same sentence is one of them) and some spicy scene descriptions that were repetitive. The part with Alina’s mom at the mall seemed almost like it was thrown in and then briefly mentioned at the very end that she talked to her therapist about it and made peace with it. I do kinda wish it was expanded on a bit more because her abandonment did have a lot to do with Alina and Max’s relationship.

The novel did a good job of setting me up wanting to read about Emmy and Cas. I am so ready for that one to come out!

[Twins Reading Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brushing Off Business by Amira Danali is a fascinating and soothing book! From the start, I was gulped into the world of Alina Bennet, a powerful corporate executive who believes she has everything under control! The plot begins with a humorous and unpleasant mix-up at a baby shower, which is shortly followed by a sneezing episode in a confined lift, when she meets Max, a painter with an attractive golden retriever-like disposition! What I love about this novel is how it manages to transform the outdated "opposites attract" trope into something lively and alive!
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As the story goes on, Alina is charged with supervising Max's art installation project for her office, which is when the magic truly begins. Max's laid-back attitude towards life begins to chip away at Alina's stiff shell, revealing aspects of her personality that she had hidden under her professional demeanour. It's amazing to see how Max's influence gradually affects Alina, encouraging her to accept spontaneity and find delight in the small thingsa This book's character development is spot on, with Alina growing more realistic and lovable as she deals with the difficulties of calming her careful work with Max's unpredictable nature. Meanwhile, Max's contagious optimism and creative flare provide an element of fun to the story, keeping it interesting and light-hearted!
.
Brushing Off Business is a romantic comedy with grasping and compelling prose and an intelligent plot; it's a story about accepting life's turbulence and finding love in unexpected places! Amira Danali has created a story that is heartbreaking and humorous, with characters that seem natural and wonderful. The book is the first of a planned four-volume entwined standalone series. Whether you enjoy rom-coms or are simply searching for a feel-good read that will make you grin, this book is absolutely worth reading!!!