The Boss

by Cynthia Dane, Hildred Billings

Welcome to human resources' hottest nightmare...

ALESSA

A Friday evening call. My boss, the unattainable Julianna Marcon, needs me in the office.

This has never happened before. I should recognize it for what it is.

Ms. Marcon wants me. Me. Alessa. An intern who has never been kissed, never been touched, never dared to dream of this.

But she doesn’t know that. Nor do I know how to navigate a woman like her—cool as ice, yet blazing with power—in the office…

Or the bedroom.

JULIANNA

Alessa was meant to be a forgettable face in a sea of nobodies. But I’m the boss. What I desire, I take.

And if I decide I want her to be mine? The sweet, unclaimed woman I shape into my ideal lover?

She’ll be mine.

If I command her to surrender her every secret, every inch of herself, she will. I dare her to resist.

But I know she won’t.

THE BOSS is a sapphic retelling of the classic Cynthia Dane romance BOSSED by the Billionaire. It is a spicy romance with a HEA and lots of bad office behavior along the way.

Genres: Lesbian, Contemporary, Queer, Romance

366 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anfangs hat es mir gar nicht gefallen, es wurde dann aber immer besser und hat mir sogar richtig das Herz gebrochen 🥹😂

[c · Rating 1 out of 5]

counting this one as finished even though I had no choice but to put this down 86% of the way through lol. choices made by one of the fmc made me not even care for the ending. every single one of the characters was insufferable and I was just hoping it would get better but it didn’t. there was not one pint throughout the story where I felt any actual connection between the two characters.

[Abbe Strauss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down. Everyone in this novel is trash, but it did what it needed to do. Back to reality.

[Madds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very spicy book throughout, but not as good as I was hoping it would be. The internal monologue of both characters throughout the book was too much, especially during the spicy scenes. It took away from what was happening, and I found Alessa’s perspective annoying. The story itself was cute, I didn’t hate it but overall disappointing.

[eLy Efrily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Juliana

I wish she was more icy. 80% of the story was her chasing Alessa. Sorry but Alessa was overly dramatic too

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes: Boss/Employee, Age Gap, BDSM

The Boss is a super spicy Sapphic workplace romance featuring a soft BDSM dynamic. Alessa is a 21 year old virginal college intern working at the prestigious Bradford and Marcon. When she is called back to the office late on a Friday night by Julianna Marcon she fears for her job. What Alessa doesn’t know is that Julianna has only called her in due to a stupid bet she made with Presley Bradford. A bet to see if Julianna still has it in her to be able to seduce someone. Alessa is just the random lucky intern Presley picked from a file.

What started out as a bet soon turns into something more. Somehow Julianna skirts her way around HR and promotes Alessa as her second assistant and official girlfriend. While Alessa isn’t stupid she is definitely young and naive. We get to hear her inner monologue a lot and she struggles with this new relationship with her boss. She is conflicted by her desires to be Julianna’s submissive plaything and her will to be a strong woman.

The story mostly flowed well and the scenes between Alessa and Julianna were hot hot hot. My main gripe would be the third act breakup but it was actually handled really well. I felt like some parts of the story were a little choppy and could have been pared down. I would have liked to see more aftercare for the BDSM scenes and for it to be addressed as such. Overall this was a solid 4 out of 5. This is a book I will read again.

[Erin F · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sapphic retelling of a Cynthia Dane book is a good read. It has a good amount of spice with some BDSM elements but aftercare is not something that is mentioned and for the dynamic of the characters, that is unfortunate. Jules and Lessa's encounter starts from a bet but quickly becomes a relationship that neither really know how to define as business or personal. Julianna Marcon always gets what she wants. She's just never wanted anyone like she wants Alessa and doesn't know what to do with that or how to tell someone how she feels. Alessa is young and naive in some aspects. I enjoyed the story but there were elements I had to push through toward the end. While neither handled the 3rd act breakup well, Alessa's anger was justified but some of her decisions following it at allowing herself to be manipulated and knowing that was the case was frustrating for me to read for a character who had shown she was much stronger and self aware than that. Julianna, for all her self assured strength, wasn't strong enough to acknowledge her feelings in time. In a world of billionaires who get everything they want and don't care who they walk over, this story falls in line but had some opportunity to show a bit more growth among the characters.

[Tammy Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

Julianna has everything she wants in life but a girlfriend/wife, but she doesn't need that when she can have any woman she wants. Tell her business partner makes a bet with her. Alessa a twenty one year old intern that is naive but doesn't want to lose her job but willing to let her boss have her virginity. Julianna becomes a little possessive that but for the right reasons, she in love with her but won't admit it. Alessa is in love with her boss but in the back of her mine knows it won't last because her boss can have any woman she wants. The BDSM is light but the spice is all there between these two, even when they meet up with some old friends in New England in club. Would like to see what happened to MS Presley and Cher if they will get together or move on. As always a wonderful story of two beautiful women coming together.

[Grendaycita Segovia · Rating 4 out of 5]

La novela más erótica que he leído de esta autora.

“The boss” inició muy simple y erótico, saltando a una relación sexual que se siente casi como un instan-love pero que al final la relación evoluciona a más. En la primera mitad Julianna (la jefa) y Alessa tienen interacciones que son completamente sexuales, no hay mucho más que dos mujeres pensando solo en hacerlo; es hasta la segunda mitad del libro que tenemos un mejor desarrollo y uno de los puntos más importantes en las relaciones románticas: comunicación.

Entre sus puntos negativos están el inicio superficial (no mucho) y el problema en la 3/4, aunque se entiende después que es una mezcla de miedos por parte de ambos al no tener clara su relación y lo que significan para ambos. Fuera de eso el libro es ligero y entretenido.

[Michelle Schuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boss

I usually adore Hildred Billings nooks. Unfortunately, this one is not as much.
It was way too inner-monologue for the majority of the book.
The intimacy scenes feel chopped instead of fluid.
The angst was expected, I enjoyed how it was resolved. As a fan of other Billings' books, I felt that this one didn't hit the mark I usually expect from her. I was still entertained and finished within a day. My feelings are not enough to drop below 4 stars. I will continue to follow her and look forward to more books by this author in the future.

[Robin Kenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

whew the anxiety sky rockets in this book!

Cynthia Dane, Hildred Billings have managed to bring a world of high finance, taboo relationships between working interns and Bosses into the forefront. The writing is superb, the setting in the PNW inline and the story is off and running! I loved that characters from other books fit so easily into this story and the heat of the relationship WOW! A powerful ending brought the story to a satisfying end. Yeah, read this one.

[Kathleen Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

what fun!

First one of the Dane/Billings books I've read. So glad! It kept me guessing until the wedding scenes, an improvement on some of the other series I've been bingeing. Only one niggling complaint: spellcheck was done, but a grammar check needs to be done. Some homophones (sound alike, different meanings. Like "here" instead of "hear") turned up that messed with the flow. Some parts I reread, gladly; some I reread to understand what was supposed to be happening.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, if something isn't acceptable in heterosexual romance, it shouldn't be acceptable in homosexual romance either. On the other hand, some of the scenes are so ridiculously hilarious that I found myself enjoying them—albeit in a bizarre way.

Still, I don't think this book is really for me.

[Cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting…

I’m quite surprised how male gazey the inner monologue, being written by two well established women I expected better internal struggle.

The plot was predictable but decently entertaining, enough for me to finish the book.
I wouldn’t recommend the book, but I probably deter someone from reading it either 🤷🏻‍♀️

[SunshineReads23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billings/Dane is ALWAYS a 1-click for me so I'm shocked I forgot about this. I cannot express enough, my love of a good storyline mixed with a hot, older, OTT woman who finds her "one" in the least obvious way possible. A game of love roulette if you will. This is a hot one (Billings/Dane is one of the best to do it imo) and I hope to one day see a follow up to Jules & Alessa's story. 5 Stars!

[Zureena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5🌟 all the way 😉

Intrique, Dom/Sub sizzling love story. Sassy and domineering hell bent to not fall and just enjoy their time together. Explosive FMC's that take charge and leave you begging for the book not to end.

[Britte Potts · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 65%
The characters were absurd - okay. But each contradicted herself continuously. Once the crisis began rising in such a contrived way, I couldn't take it anymore. The whole thing was sliding on its foundations.

[Erik S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

I've read do many of both your books together and with another author but this one I'm pretty sure is #1. What's next LADY'S.

[Teresa Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you would want in a story

Romance sex, lust and love captivated in the book. After reading you will need a cold shower or make love to your woman.

[Brogan Hanlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ. IT.

This is my first time reviewing a book, so I will keep it short and simple, READ THE DAMN BOOK.

[Claudia]

Dnf 9%

[Nat E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped Alessa got away from all of this. Juliana was not likeable at all.

[Keira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was beautiful. It was an upscale Wattpad book in all the best ways. It was hot but such a heart tugger. The ending was a tad drawn out but still and five out of five in my honest opinion.