Working Late

by Rebecca Kinkade

Virginia thought she couldn’t hate her soul-sucking corporate job more; then she met her new client from hell, Ethan. He’s arrogant and impossible to please. So impossible, in fact, that if it weren’t for the painfully handsome guy working in the next building, she might just quit this consulting job and the fifteen-hour workdays.

There’s just one tiny problem: she has no clue who he is. All she knows is that he dresses like money, is built like a god, works late, and he loves to watch her from his office window. And she’s more than happy to let him…

Working Late is a 25k word, standalone office romance novella about two hyper-ambitious people who are always the last ones to leave the office—and find the perfect way to pass the time. With a mix of character growth and steamy dalliances, this novella has no cheating or cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Workplace Romance, Contemporary

91 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 19, 2020

About the author

Rebecca Kinkade is a Mexican/Filipina-American contemporary romance author who writes competent leads who work hard and love harder. She currently lives in Los Angeles and assumes that makes her inherently interesting. She has a BA and an MBA and is 100% positive that the most valuable thing she got out of those experiences was content for her books.

Reviews

[Mia.Mi.Jou (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked that the author obviously knows the world she is writing about. Her depiction is spot on and the story so believable because of it. It took me a while to warm up to Ethan after being introduced to his POV, but the ending was everything, I loved it!

[Elizabeth Aton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this so hard!

The premise of this story is toe-curling sexy. I just love the world the author builds for us. The real ness of the grinding work life of these characters is relatable, making the fantasy that unfolds that much easier to slide right into and enjoy.

Last weekend I read this author’s most recently released novel. I had never read anything by Kinkade before. It was so good, I just kept downloading the rest of her books, one after another. I couldn’t put them down. It’s been a week and I’ve torn through all of them. Even her newsletter teaser stories are great. Kinkade is a very talented writer that I’m so happy I stumbled across. Since last week, I can’t stop recommending these books to my friends as a sure fire great read. These stories are so well written and smolderingly HOT. I’m really looking forward to more releases from this author. Definitely a new favorite.

[V. (book hangover or book slump?) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the great Klaus Mikaelson once said... *flips table*



Now back to me... WDYM THAT WAS THE LAST PAGE ??? WHA- WH- Is there a bonus chapter that I've missed ??? 🥺

In case the caps lock mislead you, I loved this and I need more 💞

Also I started reading this at 5am and thought this was Rowan's book—The Executive Touch—so when Ethan popped up in the second chapter, I was thrown lol

But once I cleared that up, I was back in! 💪🏻

- - - - - - - - - - - -

[ Just Finished ]

I went to the next page and literally shouted “No, that’s the end?!”

So yeah, 5 stars ⭐️ hahaha

[Zoey · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Rebecca Kinkade book but absolutely not the last. I’ve been following Rebecca’s socials for the past year and a half and have loved everything she posts. So all I knew was my girl was going to give me smut with workaholics, and smut with workaholics she gave me😮‍💨

I am so sat to read her other books😌

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

a rare TikTok recommendation win

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute steamy novella.. Two workaholics see each other across the street thru their building windows. Fun, different meet cute.

Two smart supportive characters, Ethan and Virginia.

- no third act breakup
- communication; I liked that they figured out who each were fairly early in the story
- no OM/OW
- dual POV; HFN. But I believe in these two. She hates her job and he vows to help her get into philanthropy or something for which she has a passion

[lena · Rating 1 out of 5]

need to start rereading books again, these kindle unlimited recs are getting bad

[Piper Brintnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute novella. It would be fun as a full length novel. I liked the character development. It was enough to get a sense of who they are but didn’t drag on with unnecessary details. There is chemistry between these two and the entire book is basically foreplay. I liked that the author didn’t drag out the mystery of the guy across the building’s identity. It was nice to have that exposed in the beginning.

Cute read!

[Karen Hoffman - Booktastic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the story of Virginia and Ethan. Was fun to see the beginning of their journey of love and friendship. Was nice to read about them as the story came alive from the first page until the end. Hope to see more of them in the future.

[Maisie🍒 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 🌟
Virginia Calvert is stuck at work late on nye frustrated she’s not making it out when she notices a guy in the building opposite is also there late. They end up watching each other, & the next time they’re both working late he holds up paper with a playlist URL for her so they can dance together as she caught him last time! Virgina is glad to escape from the stress of her work situation for a while, as her co-worker Ethan is demanding unrealistic things of her so dancing with mystery man is relaxing. Things become tense as he sends a new playlist & they dance again, making Virgina desperate to find out his name! Ethan Engle has been promoted at davenport Ridgeway despite his coworkers thinking it’s too early, he’s been working on projects with Virginia & is impressed with her work but always asking for more as his management are expecting perfection. So, he’s surprised when he logs into the meeting to see that Virginia is on the webcam & she’s the redhead across the street he’s not stopped thinking abt! When Ethan turns his camera on she recognises him & looks across the street, where Ethan waves & winds her up! They spend the meeting verbally sparring back & forth, agreeing to meet separately to discuss the work as it’s still not perfect. They have a meeting alone & are both surprised that each other are from their parallel offices, but he says they can’t do anything whilst she’s his client! With 3w left on the project, he says he’ll take her out in 22days! They continue working together for the next few days, & Ethan requests they work on FaceTime so he can see her as he continues to push her work, knowing she can produce quality work. He suggests a game of strip deck revision race, where they race to edit slides in the presentation! The game only increases the tension between them, making it harder to wait until the projects done! They finally meet when she gets called to a meeting with him & her colleague, where he secretly flirts with her! They spend the next week opening up to each other more & he tells her why he’s a dick at work not wanting to be overlooked as everyone already doubts him! They have a meeting alone to work on the project, only intensifying feelings as he asks her to come work for him so she’s not his client anymore but he’s her boss! They present the project meaning he’s not gone long to wait till he can date her, & he’s grateful for her advising him to lighten up as his boss Taryn praises him on his approach. After they finish, he finally asks her on a date but they spend the night at his appt, leading into the whole weekend together! When Monday comes, she can’t face work again so he encourages her to choose her happiness & quit, promising he’ll help her find somewhere better!

Notes I made when reading
* him sending her a playlist so they can dance Awh
* He’s defo Ethan lol

This was fun! Quick easy read nothing special just felt like I needed a quick novella & the tension in this was fun!

2.5 🌟

[DMATMOOBILforever · Rating 5 out of 5]

- 4.25 stars rounds up to 5 again because of pure enjoyment

- I am liking this so far but I can’t help but laugh… I simply cannot picture a guy dancing suggestively and stripping in his office lol
- 35% omg I LOVE that they’re working “together”’on the phone and across buildings. This is SO CUTE. Also I’m relieved that they found out who each other was right away, no deception.
- okay this was really good, again. Like I am SO excited about this author! I feel like I need to ration her books because she doesn’t have that big of a backlist and I’m not interested in her new series. Ahhhhh.
- Ethan was hot, like really confident and arrogant but not cruelly so. The mutual masturbation scene, omg. All of it was great. And I loved how Ethan cared about her career goals and satisfaction. But ugh it just left off abruptly again! Why no epilogue????
- Really enjoy the author’s writing. I feel like I need to stop myself from reading a full length novel right now ahhhhh.
- I really liked that Ethan had two sides to him, I can definitely see that irl
✅ light feels

[Dana 🦋 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Rating: 4⭐️
Spice Rating: 3🌶️
Format: E-book 📱

🦋 My Review 🦋

One thing I must say is this author has consistency in the fact that you fall in love with every single one of her MCs. And it’s not that they’re similar at all. We’ve got the sweethearts, the rich kids, the assholes. However they’ve all got one thing in common (well a few). They love, cherish, respect & bang the crap outta their ladies. If that doesn’t make you fall in love with them I don’t know what will.

Ethan is no exception. Loveeee this guy. He MADE A RANDOM ASS LADY THAT HE SAW THROUGH A WINDOW A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST & DANCED FOR HER. Tell me that’s not the cutest thing ever!!!!

This is a novella so it’s a fast read & it’s sooooo good. So much fun from start to finish. I think this took me about a half hour to read I loved every second.

[Jaycie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This an an ok novella. Not the best but definitely not the worst thing I’ve read. I took issue with the fact that the male love interest was glorified constantly for his appearance and even the fmc was like “wow I can’t believe a guy who looks like him likes me,” girl stand up oh my god he’s just a guy. Plus in the end she quits her job to work at his company, dawg you’ve known each other for a month and “known” is a generous term here.
Whatever over the book was vaguely reminiscent of the beloved classic “Dirty Work” by Austin Mahone.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

working late

Okay so this was completely not what I expected but in such a good way. Also is this what it’s like to work in a high rise in the corporate world?! LOL. The way they learned so much about each other without truly knowing each other was everything and the way Ethan supported Virginia was just super swoony. That’s honestly what everyone needs and excuse me while I find someone to watch from the window lol

[Laura Perttula · Rating 5 out of 5]

feel good novella

I didn’t know what to expect going into this novella, but at the end I announced to my empty living room, OUT LOUD, “I loved that.”

Somewhere in the early/middle there’s a twist that’s not really a twist, but then the twist comes. Some fun little zigs and zags along the way, and as these characters get to know each other you’re along for the ride.

[sarah.readstoomuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

despite the short length, I felt like I got real insight on the characters and their romance felt very real. except maybe the part where they’re doing sex stuff in the offices with giant windows and no one else sees… or maybe that is realistic and I will think twice before touching anything if I ever find myself in a conference room again.

anyway, chef’s kiss. this was fun, sweet, and hot af.

[The Storytellers Treasures · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really Banged it Out

I put off all responsibilities in my day to eat this book up. And I’m so glad I did. Rebecca never fails to add witty humor and unique storylines as well as making the spice in her work powerful and all consuming. There’s something about a man in a suit. This is a must read! A quick read, but a must read!

[Madison Rusnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ 3🌶️

Well, hello Ethan! This is a damn good novella, definitely in my top 3! This is an excellent example of how amazing a novella can be! The storyline is intriguing, doesn't feel like anything has been left out, ends well! I mean I want more but not because I feel like it was missing something, just because I loved it!

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I freaking LOVE a good novella. There’s something so special about an author who can tell a well rounded story, full of humour & warmth (and spice), in less than 200 pages.

And of course, Rebecca Kinkade absolutely nailed it!

I’m just a corporate girlie who feels seen. Leave me alone with my emotions.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

- SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
- MADE FOR: a toe-curling office novella
- NOTES: definitely an HR person's worst nightmare but this is what corporate romance girlies dreams are made of.. falling in love across the street while you're both up late working and he sends you spotify links??? *silent scream* i will never not love a forced proximity he falls first.. sue me

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The foreplay in this is SO dang delicious. Flirting from across the street without knowing each others names? The build up is SO GOOD. I work in the banking industry and what I wouldn't give for just a LITTLE of this kind of delicious naughtiness.. alas... not so much... but oh the fantasy.

[Becca (book_lover_xoxo_) Hofmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so freaking good and cute!!

OMG I loved every second of this book! It’s so cute and steamy. For a short novella it q was absolute perfection and gave me everything I needed. The banter, the tension… everything! This was so well done definitely give this a read!!

[ChlosterReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I was good at putting together playlists. Ethan communicating with Virgina via titles to the playlists he made is the cutest thing. I love correspondence in stories and wowee wow this shed that in a new light.

[Chloe Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

It was cute
It was fast
It was fun

Honestly a great little novella to give a taste of the authors writing style for those who haven’t read any of her other works

The characters were good and i wish I could’ve gotten more of them! It was nice for a good quick read 🤪

[Abbey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

a novella for the corporate girlies <3 her entire job sounded farrrrr too familiar, but god their love story was so sweet. i got butterflies the first time they met. this was so fun and very hot and so good.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
I swear I already wrote a review for this book but okay….? I’m kinda spooked but whatever. This was a fun lil novella I read on Christmas and it kinda matched the vibe. I’ll say it again since it’s so real but as an unemployed person, I’m a full time employee at Davenport-Ridgeway at this point. Hire me! :)

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ i really just needed to hit my reading goal but this novella was ok. it felt like some character arc was trying to happen but it happened in 5 pages and wasn’t given enough time but still a fun concept

[Gwenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

Une corporate romance très agréable. Ça se lit vraiment très rapidement. Pas de réels rebondissements, pas de chichis, tout va droit au but. Rien de bien étonnant ou nouveau mais c’est mignon.

[erin ◡̈ macadaeg · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
sometimes you just need a short, spicy novella. cute, enemies to lovers, workplace/corporate romance.

I liked how it was such a short story but the characters and plot were established just enough without it feeling too quick; I’d read it if it was a full length novel!

[Claire Ingledew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read

Wow was really enjoying this and it ends. I know it’s a novella but it could of ended better 🙁