Look But Don't Touch

by Olivia Hayle

Grant Wood. Even his name is sharp and unforgiving. I’ve disliked him since the first time we met, all those years ago.  He took one look at me and dismissed me as vapid and ignorant. The spoiled young daughter of his business associate. 

Sure, I’d done my best to live up to that image lately, but the judgment still stung. We had carefully avoided each other ever since. It was a perfect plan. We were both happy with that. Until I’m given an ultimatum by my dad. 


“Work at the family empire or I’ll cut you off.”

So I have to swallow my pride and show up at the office of Grant Wood, CEO. The only good part is that he seems just as unnerved by me… and I love it when his cold facade falters.

So if they want me to intern at Hathaway’s? 
Fine. I’ll be the best intern they ever had. I'm going to prove Grant wrong about me.  And I’m going to push his every button.

Genres: Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Workplace Romance, Audiobook, Billionaire Romance

233 pages, ebook

Published February 28, 2019

About the author

Hi there! I'm Olivia.
I write romance with billionaire heroes (despite never having met one in person). They're strong, ambitious, they don't need love... until they meet the women who change their minds.

I love witty banter, smart heroines, big cities and perfectly tailored suits. You'll find all four in every one of my books! 💜

➡ Explore the bonus content: https://oliviahayle.com/bonus-content
➡ Visit https://oliviahayle.com

READING ORDER
You can read any of the books as standalones, because each book follows a new couple. But if you ask me? This is my personal preference...

The Connovan Chronicles
- Best Enemies Forever
- The Perfect Mistake
- One Wrong Move

New York Billionaires
- Think Outside the Boss
- Saved by the Boss
- Say Yes to the Boss
- A Ticking Time Boss
- Suite on the Boss
- 12 Days of Bossmas

Seattle Billionaires
- Billion Dollar Enemy
- Billion Dollar Beast
- Billion Dollar Catch
- Billion Dollar Fiancé

Brothers of Paradise
- Dark Eyed Devil
- Ice Cold Boss
- Red Hot Rebel
- Small Town Hero

Standalones
- Arrogant Boss
- Look But Don't Touch
- The Billionaire Scrooge Next Door
- How to Honeymoon Alone

Reviews

[Daniel Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read

It's good really..but I wanted a bit more steam in the bedroom. Characters are awesome. No stupid drama. A little more lust and it would have been perfect.

[Elisa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

her dad has had enough of her partying so forces her to intern at the company in exchange for her trust fund.
even though Ada isn't a fan of her new boss, they start to get closer.

this was cute, but i wanted Grant to suffer more when they broke up (yes, i like when my heroes suffer).

[Christy Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This was an amazing story! The storyline was refreshing and oh so sweet! I loved the chemistry between Ada and Grant! They were made for each other! The message this book sends was very heartfelt a real! This is the first book I have read from this author and man her writing is just beautiful! I enjoyed this book so much!

[Camila Matuella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esse é um daqueles livros que daqui a tempo nem vou lembrar que li.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Info
Standalone/Cliffhanger?: Standalone
Part of a Series?: No
----------------------------------
Meeting the Characters
Grant Wood
Ada Hathaway
----------------------------------
What happens?
Ada is being forced to intern at her families auction house. Grant is the current CEO, her father's progeny. Trusting him to help guide her out of the downwood spiral she is currently on, Grant knows he should stay away from the spoiled heiress.
Ada isn't exactly what she appears to be, a grieving sister and not knowing who to turn to has left her acting like a party girl without a cause because she doesn't have any direction in her life. Working for the auction house should be easy for someone intelligent but she doesn't want to work for Grant!
Final thoughts
I love this. The romance was there between them and I found myself smiling at them. Enjoyed reading this and I wish there was another!!
Would I read again?: Yes
Would I read this author again?: Yes
Would I continue on with the series?: N/A

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Safety Stats
Ada
Virgin - no
What's Your Number - no

Grant
Playboy - no His past sexual history was brushed upon with mention of the many women he'd been photographed with at events. Ada thought to herself that he must bring a lot of women to his apartment by the casual behaviour of the staff. But it was not confirmed either way and Grant really didn't have the vibe of a playboy.
Sex scene with OW - no
Cheating - no Neither were with other people after Ada started the internship at the beginning of the book. They had known each other for years since Grant was her dad's protege. They met when Ada was in high school but barely spoke until she was in university, and then they had a hostile relationship. Both were with other people during that time, the most recent was Grant thinking about the woman he'd spent with over New Years, just before Ada started working at the company.
OW drama - no For a short time, a woman who worked in the company was hostile towards Ada because of her feelings for Grant. Nothing had ever happened between them, and she was fired because she sabotaged Ada. Later, Grant was interviewed by a woman for a magazine and Ada assumes they were on a date. There was no confrontation between the woman and Ada, and he later cleared up the misunderstanding.

Overall, Safe.

[_book_topia_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this one. I’ve read one of Olivia Hayle’s other books, Billion Dollar Enemy and really enjoyed it, but this one didn’t have that swoony factor. I think maybe because I didn’t find Grant at all charming, or have any attractive traits. He was an ahole.. and not in a hot way!!
Ada was just as plain as Grant. Vanilla all round. I didn’t even find the plot engaging.

It was so boring, nothing really happens. There wasn’t even much drama which ya know is sometimes a good thing on an otherwise mundane plot.

[miss_may · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

This puts me back in my OH era! I loved this book so much, not only because of the tension between Ada and Grant but also because this is (finally!) a story where a main character gets the help she needs in the form of therapy/rehab and it is not made into a big scandal plot point. The only thing that bothered me was, considering how smart Grant is, he was a bit too quick to judge Ada imo. But the way they found back together?? Immaculate. 🫶

[Rosiliane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agradável surpresa, depois de tantos mafiosos dark, todos iguais.
Adorei a escrita da autora...

[ies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rada kesel si gw sama hero nya, tp ya emang kl terlalu banyak dikecewakan kehidupan akan sinis ngeliat orang laen sih.. ude mikir yg jeleknya aja kwkwkwkw

abandoned issues is real fufufufufu

[Sadan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grant & Ada

[Lori Tremain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grant is the CEO of a famous auction house. His mentor comes to him and asks a huge favor. He wants him to hire his daughter as an intern abs to test her as a regular employee. His daughter Ava has partied her elite snobby life away after her twin died, to cover her pain. But daddy's is at his wits end with her and terrified to lose her as well as her twin brother. So he tells her to where she is young to work and if not her inheritance will be removed. Problem: Grant and Ava grew up on 2 different sides of the social world and they hate each other.

[shells.RomCom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast but random

This was a quick storyline with no fluff. That made me VERY HAPPY. However, I NEVER felt like Grant fell in love and then BAM he’s professing his love and it was awkward as all get out.

[Ree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada's father has gotten fed up of her attitude, issuing her an ultimatum to clean up her act. Annoyed but recognising she has no choice, she decides to irritate Grant Wood, the man her father mentored, and who is now her boss. However, she is in for a surprise when Grant turns out to more than the guy who stole her father's affection.

Grant's previous experiences with Ada have warned him to stay far away from the snarky, pampered princess, but he cannot ignore his mentor's plea to give his daughter one last chance. When she strips away her spoiled girl persona, he sees a different woman than the one he met all those years ago, as well as a woman struggling with grief.

This is the sort of book that makes you smile.

[els✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

- enemies to lovers, workplace romance
- and like actual enemies too which i loved
- i love that it’s set at an auction house!! v unique
- okay but sad backgrounds and now i’m sad
- when i say i’m obsessed with them
- oh Grant you big stupid dummy
- i genuinely cried for Ada like my heart was broken for her for a bit
- the grovelling was spectacular
- the epilogue seemed a bit rushed, would of liked a bit more info but it was still very sweet!

[Jezabel Nightingale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olivia Hayle has this knack of creating broken characters who do and say things that make the other take notice of traits within themselves. Although set in a workplace, this was not your average workplace romance. The power imbalance of the CEO and subordinate was slightly different as Ada was the daughter of the founding family, doing an internship in order to get her life back on track after a rough few years.

The end was a little rushed, but still made sense. 4.5 stars.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love my lil office romances i really do😎

[Mia Dias · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Saloua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly!!!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It got 3 star cause the story took a turn I didn't expected (not the plot line but the way things happened all along) . The story was well told and it felt ok, it wasn't like most story's of sex all day people and things happened smooth.
Tough it could had a lot more bone.
(BTW I normally give 1 or 2 star so this was top babe)

[Lydia Royer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livre romance, humour et intrigue . Conseiller ! Léger.
Entreprise familiale de vente aux enchères

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It was a very entertaining read. I love Olivia’s book because they help you relax and get out of your own mind for a bit and this book definitely didn’t disappoint. The female lead was a strong character who didn’t bow down to males and did anything she wanted which I loved. The male lead wasn’t a typical alpha which was great too. Read this if you need some quick stress free entertainment!

[Sav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieses Buch war eine lockere und leichte Lektüre, die sich angenehm und schnell lesen ließ. Die Handlung bot zwar keine großen Überraschungen, aber das tat der Geschichte keinen Abbruch. Im Gegenteil – gerade dadurch wirkte die Erzählung um Grant und Ada harmonisch und rund.

Anfangs erscheint Ada wie das klassische reiche Partygirl, das von ihrem Vater gezwungen wird, im Familienunternehmen zu arbeiten, wenn sie weiterhin auf ihr Geld zugreifen will. Doch schnell wurde klar, dass sie weit mehr ist als das: Ihre Trauer hat sie in eine Selbstzerstörungsspirale getrieben, und diese Entwicklung machte sie für mich umso greifbarer. Besonders ihre Weiterentwicklung im Laufe der Geschichte hat mir gefallen. Auch das Ende überraschte mich mehr, als ich erwartet hatte.

Grant verkörpert den typischen erfolgreichen Geschäftsmann – distanziert, kontrolliert und zunächst emotionslos Ada gegenüber. Andererseits kann man ihm nicht wirklich übelnehmen, dass er sich so verhält, schließlich hat Ada lange Zeit keinen Grund geliefert, ihn anders zu sehen. Erst zum Schluss erkennt er, dass seine kühle Haltung vielleicht nicht die beste Wahl war und er sich mit seiner eigenen Vergangenheit auseinandersetzen muss.

Die Liebesgeschichte hatte schöne Momente, aber das Ende kam mir etwas zu abrupt. Der große Zeitsprung zwischen letztem Kapitel und Epilog ließ einige Fragen offen, die ich gerne beantwortet gesehen hätte. Die Dynamik zwischen Ada und Grant war dennoch gelungen. Aus anfänglicher Feindseligkeit entwickelte sich ein spielerisches Flirten, das sich natürlich anfühlte. Besonders Ada machte eine tolle Entwicklung durch – sie begann eine Therapie, versuchte, ihre Beziehung zu ihrem Vater zu verbessern, und stellte sich ihrer Trauer. Das war ein schöner Aspekt der Geschichte.

Grant blieb dagegen für meinen Geschmack etwas blass. Seine Hintergrundgeschichte wurde angerissen, aber nicht wirklich vertieft. Auch die Konkurrenz zwischen ihm und Ben wirkte etwas unausgereift, fast so, als gehöre sie in eine andere Geschichte. Vielleicht ist Ben in einem anderen Buch der Autorin eine wichtigere Figur, aber hier fühlte sich dieser Handlungsstrang nicht ganz rund an.

Alles in allem ein netter Roman mit einer soliden Enemies-to-Lovers-Dynamik, schönen Momenten und einer angenehmen Leichtigkeit. Ada und Grants Chemie hat mir gefallen, auch wenn ich mir mehr Tiefe in der Charakterentwicklung gewünscht hätte. Ein paar Aspekte hätten ausführlicher ausgearbeitet werden können, weshalb ich insgesamt 3 ⭐ vergebe. Wer eine lockere Boss/Angestellte-Romance mit einem Hauch von Fehde sucht, wird hier aber sicher gut unterhalten.

Danke an NetGalley für das Rezensionsexemplar!

[Magali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving and exciting
I loved it thanks to the relationship of the two characters who hate each other. Each of them is lost in his past, and does not accept to be confronted with the other that was imposed on him. Between Ada who has the skills to work in the auction business of her father but who has trouble getting out of the mourning of her brother, and Grant, an orphan, who started from scratch, and who does not want of this heiress born with a silver spoon, who is imposed on him, the relations are strained and the reflections are incisive.
No one wants the other, but their skills and the business bring them together even if they do not want to, while their respect for each other increases.
I found the story at once thrilling and moving, making me go from joy to sadness.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book

[Madison Vonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceedingly enjoyable

This was a mostly light read, with snappy dialogue, insightful narrative, and a solid story ark. I recommend and I hope amazon adds a feature so you can see your own reviews of a given book if you’ve already read it, so when I pass this one in 6-12 months, I’ll see that I liked it and read it again. No surprise pregnancy (I mixed up this one with another summary in my head so read it expecting that to happen. I liked that the conflict didn’t get glossed over. I felt the pain of the characters in my heart and I randomly smiled a few times. Little less sex than I was expecting but still one good scene at a well placed scene in the story. I am truly well pleased. 4.9/5 overall. 6.8/10 on sexometer.

[The Written · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s okay - RECOMMEND

This is a predictable read. Nothing exciting and I did skim and skip a lot of it. The glass of wine may be why I gave it 3 stars because I have a real issue with the power dynamic of the male and female leads. Why romance authors, especially women, disappointingly, cannot write strong, successful, independent, self assured female leads is depressing. It tells me or rather reinforces how little women value themselves or have had a successful woman, as previously described, to look up to. An author’s writing is a window into who the writer is themselves. Sad.
SEX SCENES = Yes, decent. No talk of medical testing and no condom

[Janet Barnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ This is clearly one of Olivia Hayle’s earlier books because it’s just very simple. There’s not the same passion or slow burn or 🌶️ as some of her later books. I’ve probably read about 8 of her books so far and this was the least engaging. It was fine but the character connection was just not there. Definitely read Olivia Hayle if you like this type of romance. I’d probably pass on this one unless you want something short, sweet, simple and something you can easily pick up and put down and not feel led to read at every free second. I like the books with characters and plots that really draw me in. This was not it.

[Lily01 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Didn’t get much chemistry between them, and only on spicy scene the rest was fade in the dark BS. I like the self healing part for Ada but didn’t get the big secret behind Grant’s past. So he was adopted and self made that was already known, so really there wasn’t any secret to reveal at the end.

[Cynthia Jeffers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book with good character development. Honestly though I thought this was going to be smutty but there are only two spicy scenes. So I was a little disappointed.
Very short read. A little slow at some points but not to the point of disinterest

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Olivia Hayle fan and am trying to make a point to read all of her books. After having loved several of her books, it didn’t take me long to realize that this one might be her debut story though. (per googling her list of books, this does look to be her first published book).

🏛️ Grant Wood - early-30s, new CEO and executive partner of the Hathaway auction house, dealing with real estate, antiques, paintings. He has an aversion to letting things progress to real relationships due to his foster child upbringing.

💅 Ada Hathaway - mid-20s, a drifting socialite that hasn’t yet come to terms with her twin brother’s recent death.

After Ada’s recent partying and exploits in the headlines, her father begs his protege/successor, Grant, to let Ada come intern at the auction house for 3-months, in the hopes it will steer her in a more productive direction. To Ada, he threatens her trust fund if she doesn’t participate in the internship. Grant thinks Ada is beautiful, yet spoiled and self-centered and was ready for her to fail. Ada was ready to prove him wrong.

Olivia Hayle is known to me as an author that creates characters with interesting well-researched careers, and this was a good example of that. I also enjoyed the initial enemies feel. Grant had valid reasons to dislike her. I was initially worried if Ada would irritate me in an annoying Paris Hilton party girl way, but she didn’t. Both MMC and FMC were developed to be likable and redeemable. There were a few cute jealousy moments, the auction date and dance, teaching him to use chopsticks, running in the rain…

👩🏼‍🔧 I would love to see Olivia go back and revamp and fix this story one day though. Carry out the enemies part a bit longer. Slow the story down in general, as it felt too fast paced. The romance and developing emotions suffered because everything was happening so fast. Show us the dialogue of those late-phone calls, instead of just telling us that they happened nightly.

🔥 Then the steamy parts. There was one rushed, out-of-the-blue scene with him going down on her, then one sex scene later in the story. All others were mentioned in passing, after the fact. So very low steam compared to her current books.

“The light pink of her lipstick was far less noticeable now; knowing that I was the one who had kissed it off made standing this close to her an exercise in willpower.”- there were glimpses of the Olivia Hayle I know and love today. I’m so glad she’s evolved into what we get in her new books though. This story wasn’t horrible, I never felt like DNFing, but it would have been much better if it wasn’t so rushed.