I agreed to be a stranger’s maid of honor for the perks. I didn’t expect my grump of a boss to be the best man.
Reid Hunt is rich, ruthless, and impossible to work for — which makes being stuck with him at a destination wedding in Paris a very bad idea…
How do I know?
I’m his executive assistant.
The jerk has me running around New York City at breakneck speed doing menial tasks.
I didn’t earn a degree from a prestigious school for this, but I need the job, at least for now.
So when fun falls in my lap in the form of a desperate heiress looking for someone to be her maid of honor, I agree to do it. It all feels too good to be true including a whirlwind weekend trip to Paris to choose her wedding dress and champagne tasting after work.
I’m having the time of my life until the night I meet the groom and his best man at one of the most expensive restaurants in Manhattan.
Fate gets the last laugh when Mr. Hunt heads straight to our table and sits down beside me.
He’s the worst best man ever. I’m the maid of honor who loves to hate him.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness my life explode.
Deborah Bladon had never read a romance hero she didn't like. Her love for romance novels began when she was old enough to board the bus, library card in hand to check out the newest Harlequin paperbacks. She was a Canadian by heart, and by passport, but you could often spot her in New York City sipping a latte and looking for inspiration for her next story. Manhattan was definitely her second home.
She cherished her family and believed that each day was a gift for writing, for reading, and for loving.
I struggled to finish this story. There was nothing to captivate me, aspects were cliché, it took a long time for the romance to pick up, depth was inadequate and the characters were not that interesting.
I picked up and dropped this one so many times in the past 2 weeks that today I finally gave up at 50%. The title doesn't make sense at all, I found neither MC likable, the so-called "romance" forced and the plot repetitive and boring. If you read one Boss/Assistant trope, you read them all which is basically a copy & paste job here folks.
Story:
MMC is a partner with his 2 friends where they buy up companies and sell them off at a profit. FMC is his tired & hard working Assistant of 12+ months whom he has running over NY on his personal errands just for the fun of it and because he is selfish, egotistical and lazy.
She on the other hand is working as an assistant to save money and finish her contract which she has a few months left to start her own business or work in a marketing firm (not clear on that 'cause info was iffy). So she puts up with him and tries to be the best darn Assistant he ever has for whatever reason that at 50% I never got.
Anyhoo, for 40-45% I got no attraction from these two at all. We do know that from the moment FMC came into his life, he has not been celibate and I think it was mentioned that she dated someone for a few months. Then, MMC finds out that his childhood friend is getting married and he was asked to be his best man and FMC who is newly friends with the bride is going to be the maid honor s0 he uses her to get "in" with the couple in order to buy their businesses which would be a mega coop for him.
So now, he starts acting nice towards her and flirting because he has an agenda to use her & his friend for his own needs, and suddenly MFC is flirting back and being attracted to him where as before she couldn't give two sh**s about him.
Anyway, this was boring and dragging for me and I already know where it is going so no use finishing it.
Oh my freaking goodness! I absolutely adored this book. It felt real and meaningful. The build up was slow but there was little to no angst. The characters were perfect! Deborah Bladon is a genius and it shows in her writing. Honor pulled me in and kept me under its spell to the very last word! OUTSTANDING!!!
Reid is a ruthless venture capitalist. Evie is his sunshine PA. Reid likes to torture her with a daily scavenger hunt of demeaning tasks. During one trip to a jeweler, she meets Lottie and they become instafriends. Evie agrees to be MOH for Lottie’s upcoming nuptials not knowing that her mean boss is the best man. As Reid and Evie get to know each outside the office, their attraction grows and the spice scenes kick in. I like that he tries to be a better man for her, but he dumb lucks into knowing what she likes several times. I also didn’t love that she was very much risking her career to sleep with him. Overall, if you like spicy work place romances, this is a good one.
1st reading: Very well written prose with no memorable grammar or punctuation errors. (There were a few typos.) The plot is somewhat predictable, and there are several subplots. The main characters and two of the secondary characters are well-developed, with the MMC (Reid) demonstrating growth and change over the course of the novel. The chemistry between Reid and Evie is palpable, first in her loathing of him as her hard-ass boss (even though she thinks he's gorgeous), and then as we learn of his long-held attraction to her. The two are thrown together outside of the office as members of a wedding party, and they begin to discover more about each other. Evie learns a bit about Reid's sad childhood and begins to see him as more than just the ruthless, demanding businessman he is. Over the course of the novel Reid, who has closed himself off due to grief, gradually opens up to the idea of being in love. There is no true "third-act breakup." (What a relief!) Rather, there is a brief disagreement and separation between the two, which is what makes Reid recognize his feelings for Evie for what they are. However, unlike so many lesser romance novels, these two actually talk things through calmly (in addition to Reid talking things through with his friend for whom he's standing as best man). While this story wasn't earth-shattering, it was refreshing to read about a couple who fall in love as they spend more time together and learn about each other - and who don't jump to ridiculous or unreasonable conclusions about each other when things don't run smoothly. Yes, there are the occasional moments of misplaced jealousy or doubt early on in the relationship, but those feel normal within the context of the story and the characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was really good enemies to lovers and work place romance. Reid is a grumpy, bossy and perfect haha. He is successful business man with lots of regrets and pain from the past. Evie is super smart, funny, kind, helpful and dedicated in her workplace. Despite not being her dream job she is happy to work her contract as it's great pay. Only problem is her boss is boss from H*ll. He is very demanding and sending her all over Manhattan on a daily scavenger hunt for things and chores. She thinks he hates her,if only she knew. The she makes a random friend that ends up being a heiress and now she is her Maid Of Honour and living the best life. Until the Best Man turns out to be her boss. Loved their funny meetings and interactions. It's where they start letting their feelings slowly show and want more. I was laughing at every turn they are constantly being c*ck blocked by one friend or the other. Their chemistry was palpable, the feelings felt real. When they finally give in and are happy, Evie over hears something and that is enough to destroy what they have. Until Reid realises his love for her is more important than anything else in the world, he just needs to prove it. The spice is there but we either don't get a beginning or the end. It's all a bit to give you the idea of the scene and then I did feel unsatisfied haha. What can I say I love my spice. But this hasn't taken away anything from the book. It really was a great read.
Deborah Bladon did a wonderful job weaving the tale of Evie and Reid. I appreciated that her take on the strong, talented Evie and the surprise depiction of the cold, impersonal Reid that morphed into a caring, passionate relationship.
This office romance developed beautifully as Evie kept her cool with her boss “Mr. Hunt” and his crazy scavenger hunts of daily task. It was great to see that Evie knew her worth and that she had much more in her career future. Reid was portrayed as a successful, but extreme employer who liked things done a certain way or risk employment termination, but that his troubled past was the main reason for his chilliness.
I loved how Reid first exhibited his attraction to Evie by smelling her rose scent in his office washroom ❤️. Evie was more reserved, but her feelings became apparent as they shared the duties of best man and maid of honor.
This was a sweet story with the perfect amount of spice 🔥.
Evie Starling is the dedicated executive assistant to Reid Hunt, who leads a private equity firm alongside his two best friends. Evie finds Reid to be quite demanding at times especially when he’s assigning daily tasks that require her to run all around Manhattan for him. During one of her errands, Evie meets a kind-hearted woman named Lottie. They hit it off right away and become fast friends. Evie agrees to be Lottie’s maid of honor at her wedding, not realizing that her boss, Reid is the best man and Lottie’s fiancé’s close friend. However, as Evie and Reid spend more time together outside of the office, she starts to view him in a whole new way.
Honor is a wonderfully entertaining, sexy, and heartfelt office romance. I loved the strong friendships perceived and how much Reid’s character evolved and grew throughout the story. It would be awesome if Reid’s equity partners, Baden and Vance got their own stories too.
At the beginning of the story, the heroine is presented as a maid. I have issue imagining how you can go from maid to wife with a modern repartition of role within the couple. For boss-PA trope, if we could avoid the personal tasks (pressing/laundry, socks purchase, personnel item recovery…), it would be better. Evie is good as her job which is not presented as highly intellectual, just sending mails and run into NYC to do the hero’s shopping. She will be a perfect Emily (the grand mother in Gilmore Girl). Next, she goes to Paris with a stranger… and nobody knows. We know that she is with a good person but in real life, really??? The hero has a huge crush on the heroine since he hires her and I really understand his POV but her??? She does a 180° without real reason. They don’t have any real discussion, at one point she goes from he I ms an awful boss to I wouldn’t mind kissing him. And the usual 80% breakup is like always bullshit. I liked the writing, small càgapter and alternating pov h/H. But the plot is really not for me. M
I can say, hand to heart, that this has become my favourite Deborah Bladon novel to date. Reid and Evie - the boss from hell and his ruby lipped assistant - were such a joy to read about. Their beginning is not one new to us, but their story and all the emotion that it encased kept me completely raptured. I loved Reid in all his ass-holness with his to-do lists(you’ll see 🤭) and every lovely thing that he did, and Evie was portrayed so beautifully and was a perfect match for him. The amount of emotion that poured out of this story, with all the loss and hurt, but so much love at the end of it all, made it for a beautiful read and a book that I just couldn’t put down. The spice was spicing, the friendships were friendshipping, the love was loving. Nothing more I could have asked for in a book. Loved, loved, loved.
Another fantastic slow burn office romance that I couldn't put down. I love the inter-connecting New York six degrees of separation and everytime a past character or shop reference comes along, it brings a huge smile to my face remembering that couple. Reid keeps very professional boundaries with his executive assistant Evie. However, making her run around NYC completing his meial tasks definitely puts him into enemy territory.
When a chance encounter brings them together as best man and maid of honor at an upcoming wedding, the tension that was brewing under the surface comes to a head. I was not a massive fan of Reid in the beginning, but by the end I was 100% on board! Another fabulous love story.
Deborah does it again. I love her books, all the Easter Eggs from past books make New York feel like one big family. I'll be honest, I really didn't like Reid Hunt at the beginning. He was an ass, but as the story unfolded and I learned more about him, I began to understand and change my mind. Evie was a ray of sunshine and how she put up with him I will never know. The plot was simple, yet endearing. The characters both main and side complex and fully formed. Evie and Reid's relationship was a slow burn which turned into a steamfest. The romance, the comedy and the tragedy, I loved it all!
Evie is an executive assistant to business mogul Reid, who challenges her daily with unnecessary jobs that keep her out of the office.. Out of nowhere his best friend from his school days asks him to be his best man. Meanwhile he has sent Evie out on another multiple jaunt around the city, which includes taking one of his many watches to the jewellers for repair. Whilst waiting he then she starts talking with a young woman, Lottie, who is also waiting to collect her altered engagement ring. They get chatting and exchange numbers. And the story evolves from there. Really thoroughly enjoyable read.
That was a drag. The story took forever to finish. I was at 37% when I gave up and started skipping whole chapters. And it turns out I didn’t miss anything important. There were too many details that were absolutely necessary. One scene/event takes multiple chapters to get through because Evie has reminiscences about multiple events or places.
As for the characters, the only one I really liked was Cleo, and she was on page only a few times. I didn’t like Lottie a lot even though she was written as a nice person.
Anyway. Yeah. Slow af story. Made it to 88% skipping chapters and ended up not finishing at all.
I have read almost all of Deborah Bladon’s books and honestly, this might be the best one yet. Both characters had amazing back stories, their chemistry leapt off the pages and the slow burn was hot. Evie didn’t take any bull and was not an annoying whiny female lead. Reid was a dick without being so loathsome that you don’t want to root for him at all. I cried at the end which doesn’t normally happen with spicy reads for me. But I hope we get more of them in other stories.
I liked this book. It was easy read. There was nothing extraordinary happening besides the romance, but I didn't mind for once.
My only struggle was that sometimes the romance came off too hard and almost unbelievable - e.g., when the MMC suddenly blurts out that he liked/loved the MFC from the start and that was also the reason for sending her away on all the errands. Or when she was really angry at him (and ignoring him) and then he comes to her one day and they behave like nothing happened.
Totally mad at myself for not reading this book sooner! I was sent an ARC of Honor during a massive reading slump, and have just now gotten around to reading it. And I LOVE Reid and Evie to much. Evie is so spectacular, she is such a grounding force to those around her. I picture her as just a calm little fairy flitting around and making everyones lives so much better. And Reid, that hunk of a man. He is such a simp for Evie, even before hes willing to admit it to himself. They were such a sweet couple, I loved them!
What an exceptional story! There is subtle humor, (laugh out loud for me) then, towards ending, I am grabbing for Kleenex. Love Evie and Reid. They are an amazing couple and their story makes one feel so many emotions. This is written beautifully and the side characters are excellent. There are so many moments in this book that I will not quickly forget. I believe this is the best of all the books written by Ms. Bladon. She is an amazing author who has crafted a fantastic love story.
Deborah Bladon continues her writing goodness with her new book Honor. The backdrop is New York where Evie is the ever dutiful executive assistant to Reid Hunt. Their mutual attraction is palpable but they haven't cross the line. What I look forward to in Ms Bladon books is the connection the side characters have to the H&H and this read delivered.
This is slow burn at it's best! spicy with no dragged out drama
Anytime I see a new book from Deborah, I’m stopping whatever I’m doing to start it! Her storytelling is so wonderful, with just enough detail and plot twists, to keep you engaged and to care about the characters. I just finished reading, for at least the second time, her entire catalog of books. They never are old and always find sometime I may have missed the first time. Another great book and I’m looking forward to next.
I don’t know why there were so many negative reviews. I really liked this book. I mean it covered all your usual basis, enemy to lovers, great sex, humor, friendships and then the areas of sadness. I loved the last few chapters the most. They tied the whole story sentimentality together. It’s a feel good story. Isn’t that why we read these books?? They fill a void in a lot of us that leaves us feeling good when it’s done. Read the book with an open mind and judge for yourself.
Reid and Evangeline was a strange but perfect pair. Reid hired Evie as his executive assistant. He would send her on mundane personal errands, scavenger hunts let’s say. On day she meet a lady name Charolette,on one of those said errands. Evie and Lottie become friends and she agrees to be Lottie maid of honor for marrying guess who? Reid’s oldest best friend. You got to love these stories and you will love this one.
A billionaire that has everything but someone to love. His assistant who drives him crazy because he can't stop thinking how beautiful she is. They are maid if hi or and best man to the same couple. When Reid can no longer deny his feelings he lets Evie know. These two can be terrific together but his quest for business can make Evie run. When he finally tells her about his past and that he is not pursuing the deal the admit their love for each other. Evie gives him peace to fave the future.
A eautifl written, humourous story about un required love that eventually works out. An over bearing boss , Reid who make his assistant do many errands. Poor Evangeline, Evie to her friends is exceptional thorough at her job, and performs all tasks. Stay late, and manages Reid’s work load admirably. The story progresses and we learn the reason why. The characters are all interesting and a pleasure to get to know. A most enjoyable light read.
A true boss romance, even those neither know how much they want it nor how they feel about each other at the time. He holds true to the bossy boss mold, ordering her around, just because she is so good at her job. Unbeknownst to both, he is hiding his feelings, due to being her boss! They are destined for more, just needed to navigate through all their issues. Great story.
Once again Ms. Bladon has written a fascinating book! I truly have read all her books and as I have said before they just get better each time. The story of Evie and Reid had all the good things, and you could not help but hope Reid and Evie would find their way! I also love the way other characters and places from past books are woven into the story. This was worth every star given!
This was such a fun steamy read. I have been in a slump lately and really needed this to pull me out of it. Evie and Reid had such great chemistry. I loved seeing Reid’s character evolve. I loved his entire background story and the progression of his relationship with Evie was so genuine. The epilogue was truly swoon worthy.
Reid has his assistant Evie running around doing all these manual chores when she’s over qualified for the job and the best assistant he’s ever had. But it’s his way of keeping her away from him, and he from temptation. Until they find themselves Best Man and Maid of Honour to the same couple and a weekend away changes everything
This is a well written story which has family, friendships, emotions, challenges, intrigue, humour, witty banter, undeniable chemistry, romance, and love which all leads to an entertaining, spicy, and compelling addictive page turner. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.