A Working Relationship

by Britta Thorne

I have one item on my agenda: start over. Not on the list? Being attracted to a tattooed former playboy with a mischievous smile and a shady past.

After moving across the country for yet another high-powered ad exec job, Danielle Wright will never date at work again. Her disastrous former relationship scarred her for life, and with her overwhelming family responsibilities plus the demands of her job, the last thing she needs to worry about is a man. Armed with a no-nonsense attitude and a bun slicked back tighter than a 5 o’clock deadline, Danielle is determined to kick as much corporate ass as possible, with no distractions.

Jesse Adler is the hot creative director who’s just trying to be a better person, and he thinks part of that is making the new girl smile. Ok, maybe he wants to do a little more, like see what’s going on under her pencil skirt. But when the jokes turn from infuriating to fun, Danielle starts to think maybe she’s being too rigid about that pesky no-dating rule.

As Danielle grapples with the realities of working while female and the two of them look for the meaning of family, Jesse has to confront his past. These opposites may attract, but will they be able to overcome the truth about Jesse?

A Working Relationship is a spicy contemporary workplace romance with heart and plenty of heat that might not be suitable for readers under the age of 18.

366 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2025

About the author

Britta Thorne is a romance addict. She became obsessed when she was sick in bed, wasting away like a Victorian child with consumption, and now has to remind herself that other forms of literature exist.

She fell in love with so many books that she decided to bring her own complicated, flawed, and fun characters to life and make them kiss each other (and lots, lots more). She writes about strong women and has always had a thing for guys with a mischievous smile and a big…sense of humor.

When she's not hyper-focused on raising the stakes for her characters, she's working on her mental health, hanging out with her very handsome husband and an orange creamsicle cat who barely tolerates her, working at her day job in marketing, and constantly injuring herself while exercising.

Reviews

[Amee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 25% Slow start, fmc was written so type A she came off not only unlikable, but rude. Tried to continue because MMC’s energy was fun, and his backstory was bound to be compelling, but couldn’t get past her personality.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not often you come across a writers’s debut novel and it makes you immediately excited for their next book. Britta Thorne‘s A Working Relationship exhibits some of the issues that can come with a writer’s first novel, which may seem cruel, but I mention it because inevitably some people will pick that as a reason to not recommend the story. Instead, I see what Thorne is trying to give us: a romance that has all the tropes that come with coworkers falling in love and having spicy spicy fun times, but there’s a depth here that so many stories in the genre fail to achieve. In addressing Jesse‘s addictive personality and Danielle‘s need to control things in depth, she makes them relatable. While digging deeper into both character’s pasts and family trauma almost gives the book a bit of a therapy bent — if you’ve been through anything similar. Trigger warning: there is workplace harassment, parental abuse, substance abuse, and partner violence that may be difficult for some to read. But having some experience with these, I didn’t find the way it was addressed to be re-traumatizing for me personally! A Working Relationship is longer, takes more time to marinate with its characters, and gives us growth in their lives and in all their relationships. It has a very interesting cast of characters that surround our FMC and MMC. The spice and heat in this book take a little while to show up, but once it does, boy does it ever [get spicy]! At the end of the day, it’s the character development that endeared this book to me and makes me look forward to Thorne‘s second novel. I just loved how Jesse’s golden retriever side was juxtaposed against the tattoo-covered bad boy that he was introduced as. And I can’t wait to see how she continues to bring us stories about some of the best parts of being human: finding where you belong, and finding people to love & trust with all of who you are.

[Linda de Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it really hard to get into the story, almost gave up. At approx. 30% in it got better.
Things that bothered me:
The main characters acted very immature and unprofessional, especially for people with their backgrounds. And being ambitious is not a bad thing, but Danielle's take on it made her not very likable in my eyes.
The use of pronouns like 'they' and 'their' for one specific character (while everyone else was just she or he and said character was clearly female) felt forced and was annoying, it regularly had me read the sentence several times to understand.
Danielle's reaction to Jesse's confession was rather over the top, took away the last bit of sympathy I had left for her.
All in all not a story I would read again, or recommend.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Brynn Champney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guys, this book was SO GOOD! It wasn't *just* hot. (But omg, was it. Thorne is a master of building tension.) It was relatable, intriguing, intellectual, and emotional. The family dynamics! The psychological barriers! I couldn't put it down. I hope y'all love it as much as I do :-)

[Meg Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! The characters were unique and had strong backgrounds that held the story up. It was funny, too! Definitely a little darker than most romance I've read, but plenty of light moments for balance.

[Nifer Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐ 3 🌶️ Dual POV First Person
Mental health struggles, addiction, trauma, and grief mixed into a love story between an artistic golden retriever former playboy and a no nonsense ad exec.