What do you think?
Rate this book
The Whitley Brothers #1
Matchmaking the CEO
Jake Whitley and I start on the wrong foot. And then it goes downhill from there.
After my career implodes, I’m determined to make a living with my new event planning business.
But Jake and I are at odds from the moment I step on his private plane.
He wants to get rid of me. I want to throw his grandmother the celebration of a lifetime…on his property in Martha’s Vineyard.
He’s arrogant and a grump and acts like he owns the world. He’s also hot as hell, but I’d never cross that line. I can’t afford another mistake in my professional life. Not that Jake is attracted to me.
Just when I brace myself for another heated conversation, I discover a completely different man under the façade he’s created. He claims he’s always wanted me.
The last thing I need is for this gorgeous man to tilt my world on its axis. But Jake has other ideas, and so does his matchmaking grandmother.
After my career implodes, I’m determined to make a living with my new event planning business.
But Jake and I are at odds from the moment I step on his private plane.
He wants to get rid of me. I want to throw his grandmother the celebration of a lifetime…on his property in Martha’s Vineyard.
He’s arrogant and a grump and acts like he owns the world. He’s also hot as hell, but I’d never cross that line. I can’t afford another mistake in my professional life. Not that Jake is attracted to me.
Just when I brace myself for another heated conversation, I discover a completely different man under the façade he’s created. He claims he’s always wanted me.
The last thing I need is for this gorgeous man to tilt my world on its axis. But Jake has other ideas, and so does his matchmaking grandmother.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2022
2610 people are currently reading
1418 people want to read
About the author
Layla Hagen
75 books4,655 followersWelcome! My name is Layla Hagen and I am a Contemporary Romance author.
I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.
I write romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.
And I drink coffee. Lots of it, in case the photo didn’t make it obvious enough ;)
I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.
I write romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.
And I drink coffee. Lots of it, in case the photo didn’t make it obvious enough ;)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
October 18, 2022
Just the most bizarre plot-line development. Everything felt rushed, forced, and unnatural.
October 2, 2022
Jake & Natalie’s Steamy Romance Has A Feel-Good Ending! The Whitley Family’s Debut Story Sets The Stage For More To Come.
This appears to be the first in an eight-book series about the Whitley brothers.
ABOUT THE WHITLEY FAMILY:
The Whitley family is complicated, to say the least. Abe and Jeannie Whitley head the family. They are grandparents. Abe, eighty-eight, had run Whitley Industries, a family company, until retiring and leaving it for his son Ryan to manage. Jeannie, eighty-nine, is a spirited grandmother. Her biggest hope is to finally become a great-grandmother, and she isn’t above a little meddling – a.k.a. matchmaking – to make it happen.
Colton Whitley, thirty-four, is a scientist and the CEO of the biotech branch of Whitley Industries. Serious and dedicated to his work, he has no social life. He has been working tirelessly on his latest project.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, chose to follow a different path. He runs his own management consultancy firm in New York City. This is his story.
Cade and Spencer, fraternal twins, are thirty-one.
Cade Whitley is the prankster of the family, but he has a sensible side as well. He developed a love for coffee in high school and now runs Whitley Industries’ The Boston Coffee Expert. His grandmother appears to have a scheme in the works involving him and an old high school friend, Meredith.
Spencer Whitley runs the publishing branch of the family company. The perfect complement to his twin, Spencer is the pacifist of the family. That doesn’t mean he never finds trouble, though.
Gabe Whitley, the youngest, is twenty-nine. He might be the carefree brother, but he didn’t make things easy for his grandmother when she took him in for his senior year of high school. He runs the family’s craft distillery. He is sometimes recognized for his appearances in distillery commercials.
Ryan Whitley, the boys’ father, secretly had a second family. Jake discovered this life-altering fact when he was twenty and doing an internship for his father at Whitley Advertising. Jake and Colton witnessed their mother’s heartache upon learning about the betrayal. The younger three boys were sheltered from it; they suffered less trauma than Jake and Colton as a result. In the aftermath, tragically, their mother fell ill and died months later. At the time, Gabe was the only minor, so at seventeen, their grandparents took him in. Their father moved to Australia after the discovery, although he left no fans behind. His second family didn’t follow him, either. Ryan had never married Nancy, the other woman, but she had no knowledge about his wife and children. She rejected him when she learned the truth. Ryan has three sons with Nancy – Maddox, Nick, and Leo.
Abe and Jeannie have made an effort to bring Maddox, Nick, and Leo into the family. The boys all agreed to move to the Boston area where, like four of their half brothers, they now each run a branch under the Whitley Industries umbrella. Even though they have lived locally for years now, it is a bit wonky that they have not been fully incorporated into family events. The younger brothers seem to have fallen in with their half brothers on the down-low, but Colton and Jake remain too traumatized to make the effort thirteen years later.
Maddox manages Whitley Office Designs. He seems uptight in some ways, yet relaxed in others. It is difficult to marry the difference. At this point, I don’t find him very likable due to the inconsistencies.
Nick oversees the fitness center branch of the family business. He recently opened an online security company as well. He and Maddox once had the same girlfriend.
Leo runs Whitley Real Estate.
IN THIS BOOK:
The story opens in Boston. It is late June.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, is a self-made man. He is CEO of New York Management Consulting and is known for his ability to turn around troubled companies. Although he could easily have gone to work running one of his family’s companies after college, he wanted nothing to do with that legacy. His entire outlook on family was destroyed when he discovered that his father kept a second family. Childhood memories of his loving parents and of happy family moments were erased in that instant. That was when Jake was twenty and interning at Whitley Advertising. The discovery destroyed his family. His mother died with a broken heart months later. Two years later, Jake finished his B.A. and left Boston behind. He still valued his family, but he wanted nothing to do with the city and the company that reminded him of his two-timing father. There were too many painful memories associated with both.
Jake got a master’s degree at NYU’s Stern School of Business and made New York his home. He lives for work, devoting years of his life to eighteen-hour days. His employees wonder if he is really a robot. He isn’t much of a people person, though he knows how to turn on the charm when needed. Jake prefers working with numbers. He also likes schedules. He believes in strict discipline in every aspect of his life. He is confident, stubborn, and known for his difficult personality. He eventually recognized the need for a little downtime, so he has a monthly weekend retreat at his Martha’s Vineyard estate. It is a time to decompress and meditate. Back home in New York, he now makes time for dating and working out. Although he dates, he has never cared about a woman. He makes his grandparents and brothers a priority in his life, but Jake has no intention of having a family of his own.
Natalie Summers, thirty, was born with a wholesome and cheerful disposition. She is stubborn in a good way – her tenacity helps drive her success. She is undaunted in the face of life’s challenges. In fact, she enjoys a good challenge. She now finds herself in a financial bind, thanks to her ex-boyfriend Vince. She lost her job three months ago. Worse, her former employer is refusing to provide a letter of recommendation, hindering her job search. Natalie was the first in her family to earn a degree, something she is proud of, but the competition in her field is fierce. She earned a degree in computer science and spent five years working in predictive analytics. She is working with a recruiter, but the process takes a while. Her parents moved to Greece to live near her two sisters, so she doesn’t have family to lean on. Since Natalie spent years assisting her mother run a party planning business, when her funds begin to run dry, she opens up her own. Natalie’s Event Agency went live online days before when she gets her first call. Jeannie Whitley is turning ninety and wants to throw a big party – and she wants Natalie to manage the event.
Jeannie Whitley is a force to be reconned with. She listens to her intuition when she comes across Natalie’s website, and she begins to set the stage for a grand scheme. In addition to wanting great-grandchildren, she wants Jake to move back home to Boston. With that in mind, she plays matchmaker with him and the local woman.
When Jake’s grandmother asks him to host her birthday party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate, he doesn’t know how to say no to her. When she insists that he pick up her event planner and take her with him on his next trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he still cannot refuse her. Nevertheless, he wants nothing to do with the woman – Natalie Summers – and already hates her. But soon after meeting the somewhat naïve beauty, he finds himself amused by her banter. She is authentic and real in a way he hasn’t experienced in a woman before. When Natalie sees Jake for the first time, she is electrified. His powerful gaze captivates her, but he is just as difficult and stubborn as Jeannie had warned. He is proper and all business, never an unguarded moment. Still, she cannot help but admire his sense of command.
When Jake learns that his grandfather has stepped in to help run Whitley Advertising, he is concerned that his grandfather is overextending himself and unhappy that nobody had discussed it with him. With no CEO for months, the company is floundering. And when Jake takes a closer look, it appears his father left the company in worse shape than anyone realized. Since Jake is in the business of turning companies around, he is the perfect person to step in and take charge. The only problem is that Jake is already a CEO and has no intention of leaving New York. A medical emergency finally convinces Jake that he has no choice but to move to Boston temporarily. He plans to turn Whitley Advertising around and either sell it off or find a new CEO. The move also puts him in Natalie’s sphere. As the pair begin to spend time with one another, they know their time is limited. Jake must face his past when he returns home. As he spends time with Natalie, he begins to discover new things about himself and rethink his beliefs. Natalie struggles with the direction of her life as she tries to put the past behind her. She doesn’t want another relationship after things ended so badly with her ex, Vince. Jake and Natalie don’t have a future, but they decide to enjoy the little bit of time that they do have together. The couple eventually finds a happy ending.
It appears that Cade’s story with his high school friend Meredith will follow.
Jake and Natalie’s romance is a light story about the importance of family. The Whitley family is introduced here, which is a complicated story in itself. There is a lot of heartache, but they are trying to move forward and make the most of what they have. Jake is the only one pulling away entirely. He is not conflicted about his half brothers or Whitley Industries – he doesn’t feel any sense of responsibility toward either. On the other hand, he has a keen sense of responsibility toward his grandparents and keeps in touch with his brothers. He doesn’t really feel like he is missing out on much, and in his mind, he is living a full life in New York. It takes one slightly quirky and surprisingly direct beauty to challenge his thinking and have him reexamining his regimented lifestyle. She amuses him, and he finds himself more relaxed and happy than he has been in years.
Natalie’s life is a mess when Jake enters it. She is in no position to begin a new relationship. She still feels the burn of her last breakup. She hadn’t been a good judge of character with Vince, and she paid the price. She is also financially unstable without a steady job. Jake’s instinct is to offer help, but Natalie doesn’t want to be his charity case. As her job prospects grow dim, she begins an event planning business to bring in some cash on the side, but even that might not be enough to bridge the gap until she finds employment again. She faces some tough choices.
There are a few issues that merit mention. *Spoilers* There is an occasional minor timeline error that causes confusion. Additionally, there are a few confusing or vague passages, some of which are later clarified, so be patient. Later in the story, there is an event that brings together all the brothers and half brothers for the first time. This is not credible. It feels manufactured for the convenience of the storyline. The grandparents talked the half brothers into moving to the area and gave them jobs running companies under the Whitley Industries umbrella. This was sometime after Jake left eleven years ago, but still, they have lived locally for a number of years now. It is hard to imagine that holidays and other events have passed by all these years without all being together. It felt strange learning about the half brothers being welcomed by the grandparents, yet not being invited to family meetings and meals. Next, there is an issue between Jake and Maddox later in the story. Everyone seems to blame Jake, but I didn’t buy it. Jake walked into something unawares, completely at a disadvantage. Maddox understood initially he should have handled things differently, but when faced with his choice to go along, he throws it in Jake’s face. Knowing Jake has a reason to feel concerned and even betrayed, and that the situation was heated and emotional, he nonetheless provokes Jake. When Jake takes the high road later and reaches out, Maddox is again proactive for no good reason. He had initially come across as reasonable in the story, but after that, I didn’t like him at all. I don’t want to read his story at this point. I don’t care for people who kick you when you are down. And I didn’t understand why everyone threw all the blame on Jake. It was Natalie who was largely to blame, and Maddox made a conscious choice as well. The point is, there was a lot of blame to go around. Finally, Natalie chose to have an emotional conversation with Jake in a spot where all of his brothers could watch. That was on top of the other unnecessary damage she caused. Jake lets it go – again the bigger person despite getting all the blame. That entire scene bothered me.
Jake and Natalie’s steamy romance has a feel-good ending. The Whitley family’s debut story sets the stage for more to come. The story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat simple. There is a large cast of unique and interesting characters. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Jake and Natalie. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This appears to be the first in an eight-book series about the Whitley brothers.
ABOUT THE WHITLEY FAMILY:
The Whitley family is complicated, to say the least. Abe and Jeannie Whitley head the family. They are grandparents. Abe, eighty-eight, had run Whitley Industries, a family company, until retiring and leaving it for his son Ryan to manage. Jeannie, eighty-nine, is a spirited grandmother. Her biggest hope is to finally become a great-grandmother, and she isn’t above a little meddling – a.k.a. matchmaking – to make it happen.
Colton Whitley, thirty-four, is a scientist and the CEO of the biotech branch of Whitley Industries. Serious and dedicated to his work, he has no social life. He has been working tirelessly on his latest project.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, chose to follow a different path. He runs his own management consultancy firm in New York City. This is his story.
Cade and Spencer, fraternal twins, are thirty-one.
Cade Whitley is the prankster of the family, but he has a sensible side as well. He developed a love for coffee in high school and now runs Whitley Industries’ The Boston Coffee Expert. His grandmother appears to have a scheme in the works involving him and an old high school friend, Meredith.
Spencer Whitley runs the publishing branch of the family company. The perfect complement to his twin, Spencer is the pacifist of the family. That doesn’t mean he never finds trouble, though.
Gabe Whitley, the youngest, is twenty-nine. He might be the carefree brother, but he didn’t make things easy for his grandmother when she took him in for his senior year of high school. He runs the family’s craft distillery. He is sometimes recognized for his appearances in distillery commercials.
Ryan Whitley, the boys’ father, secretly had a second family. Jake discovered this life-altering fact when he was twenty and doing an internship for his father at Whitley Advertising. Jake and Colton witnessed their mother’s heartache upon learning about the betrayal. The younger three boys were sheltered from it; they suffered less trauma than Jake and Colton as a result. In the aftermath, tragically, their mother fell ill and died months later. At the time, Gabe was the only minor, so at seventeen, their grandparents took him in. Their father moved to Australia after the discovery, although he left no fans behind. His second family didn’t follow him, either. Ryan had never married Nancy, the other woman, but she had no knowledge about his wife and children. She rejected him when she learned the truth. Ryan has three sons with Nancy – Maddox, Nick, and Leo.
Abe and Jeannie have made an effort to bring Maddox, Nick, and Leo into the family. The boys all agreed to move to the Boston area where, like four of their half brothers, they now each run a branch under the Whitley Industries umbrella. Even though they have lived locally for years now, it is a bit wonky that they have not been fully incorporated into family events. The younger brothers seem to have fallen in with their half brothers on the down-low, but Colton and Jake remain too traumatized to make the effort thirteen years later.
Maddox manages Whitley Office Designs. He seems uptight in some ways, yet relaxed in others. It is difficult to marry the difference. At this point, I don’t find him very likable due to the inconsistencies.
Nick oversees the fitness center branch of the family business. He recently opened an online security company as well. He and Maddox once had the same girlfriend.
Leo runs Whitley Real Estate.
IN THIS BOOK:
The story opens in Boston. It is late June.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, is a self-made man. He is CEO of New York Management Consulting and is known for his ability to turn around troubled companies. Although he could easily have gone to work running one of his family’s companies after college, he wanted nothing to do with that legacy. His entire outlook on family was destroyed when he discovered that his father kept a second family. Childhood memories of his loving parents and of happy family moments were erased in that instant. That was when Jake was twenty and interning at Whitley Advertising. The discovery destroyed his family. His mother died with a broken heart months later. Two years later, Jake finished his B.A. and left Boston behind. He still valued his family, but he wanted nothing to do with the city and the company that reminded him of his two-timing father. There were too many painful memories associated with both.
Jake got a master’s degree at NYU’s Stern School of Business and made New York his home. He lives for work, devoting years of his life to eighteen-hour days. His employees wonder if he is really a robot. He isn’t much of a people person, though he knows how to turn on the charm when needed. Jake prefers working with numbers. He also likes schedules. He believes in strict discipline in every aspect of his life. He is confident, stubborn, and known for his difficult personality. He eventually recognized the need for a little downtime, so he has a monthly weekend retreat at his Martha’s Vineyard estate. It is a time to decompress and meditate. Back home in New York, he now makes time for dating and working out. Although he dates, he has never cared about a woman. He makes his grandparents and brothers a priority in his life, but Jake has no intention of having a family of his own.
Natalie Summers, thirty, was born with a wholesome and cheerful disposition. She is stubborn in a good way – her tenacity helps drive her success. She is undaunted in the face of life’s challenges. In fact, she enjoys a good challenge. She now finds herself in a financial bind, thanks to her ex-boyfriend Vince. She lost her job three months ago. Worse, her former employer is refusing to provide a letter of recommendation, hindering her job search. Natalie was the first in her family to earn a degree, something she is proud of, but the competition in her field is fierce. She earned a degree in computer science and spent five years working in predictive analytics. She is working with a recruiter, but the process takes a while. Her parents moved to Greece to live near her two sisters, so she doesn’t have family to lean on. Since Natalie spent years assisting her mother run a party planning business, when her funds begin to run dry, she opens up her own. Natalie’s Event Agency went live online days before when she gets her first call. Jeannie Whitley is turning ninety and wants to throw a big party – and she wants Natalie to manage the event.
Jeannie Whitley is a force to be reconned with. She listens to her intuition when she comes across Natalie’s website, and she begins to set the stage for a grand scheme. In addition to wanting great-grandchildren, she wants Jake to move back home to Boston. With that in mind, she plays matchmaker with him and the local woman.
When Jake’s grandmother asks him to host her birthday party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate, he doesn’t know how to say no to her. When she insists that he pick up her event planner and take her with him on his next trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he still cannot refuse her. Nevertheless, he wants nothing to do with the woman – Natalie Summers – and already hates her. But soon after meeting the somewhat naïve beauty, he finds himself amused by her banter. She is authentic and real in a way he hasn’t experienced in a woman before. When Natalie sees Jake for the first time, she is electrified. His powerful gaze captivates her, but he is just as difficult and stubborn as Jeannie had warned. He is proper and all business, never an unguarded moment. Still, she cannot help but admire his sense of command.
When Jake learns that his grandfather has stepped in to help run Whitley Advertising, he is concerned that his grandfather is overextending himself and unhappy that nobody had discussed it with him. With no CEO for months, the company is floundering. And when Jake takes a closer look, it appears his father left the company in worse shape than anyone realized. Since Jake is in the business of turning companies around, he is the perfect person to step in and take charge. The only problem is that Jake is already a CEO and has no intention of leaving New York. A medical emergency finally convinces Jake that he has no choice but to move to Boston temporarily. He plans to turn Whitley Advertising around and either sell it off or find a new CEO. The move also puts him in Natalie’s sphere. As the pair begin to spend time with one another, they know their time is limited. Jake must face his past when he returns home. As he spends time with Natalie, he begins to discover new things about himself and rethink his beliefs. Natalie struggles with the direction of her life as she tries to put the past behind her. She doesn’t want another relationship after things ended so badly with her ex, Vince. Jake and Natalie don’t have a future, but they decide to enjoy the little bit of time that they do have together. The couple eventually finds a happy ending.
It appears that Cade’s story with his high school friend Meredith will follow.
Jake and Natalie’s romance is a light story about the importance of family. The Whitley family is introduced here, which is a complicated story in itself. There is a lot of heartache, but they are trying to move forward and make the most of what they have. Jake is the only one pulling away entirely. He is not conflicted about his half brothers or Whitley Industries – he doesn’t feel any sense of responsibility toward either. On the other hand, he has a keen sense of responsibility toward his grandparents and keeps in touch with his brothers. He doesn’t really feel like he is missing out on much, and in his mind, he is living a full life in New York. It takes one slightly quirky and surprisingly direct beauty to challenge his thinking and have him reexamining his regimented lifestyle. She amuses him, and he finds himself more relaxed and happy than he has been in years.
Natalie’s life is a mess when Jake enters it. She is in no position to begin a new relationship. She still feels the burn of her last breakup. She hadn’t been a good judge of character with Vince, and she paid the price. She is also financially unstable without a steady job. Jake’s instinct is to offer help, but Natalie doesn’t want to be his charity case. As her job prospects grow dim, she begins an event planning business to bring in some cash on the side, but even that might not be enough to bridge the gap until she finds employment again. She faces some tough choices.
There are a few issues that merit mention. *Spoilers* There is an occasional minor timeline error that causes confusion. Additionally, there are a few confusing or vague passages, some of which are later clarified, so be patient. Later in the story, there is an event that brings together all the brothers and half brothers for the first time. This is not credible. It feels manufactured for the convenience of the storyline. The grandparents talked the half brothers into moving to the area and gave them jobs running companies under the Whitley Industries umbrella. This was sometime after Jake left eleven years ago, but still, they have lived locally for a number of years now. It is hard to imagine that holidays and other events have passed by all these years without all being together. It felt strange learning about the half brothers being welcomed by the grandparents, yet not being invited to family meetings and meals. Next, there is an issue between Jake and Maddox later in the story. Everyone seems to blame Jake, but I didn’t buy it. Jake walked into something unawares, completely at a disadvantage. Maddox understood initially he should have handled things differently, but when faced with his choice to go along, he throws it in Jake’s face. Knowing Jake has a reason to feel concerned and even betrayed, and that the situation was heated and emotional, he nonetheless provokes Jake. When Jake takes the high road later and reaches out, Maddox is again proactive for no good reason. He had initially come across as reasonable in the story, but after that, I didn’t like him at all. I don’t want to read his story at this point. I don’t care for people who kick you when you are down. And I didn’t understand why everyone threw all the blame on Jake. It was Natalie who was largely to blame, and Maddox made a conscious choice as well. The point is, there was a lot of blame to go around. Finally, Natalie chose to have an emotional conversation with Jake in a spot where all of his brothers could watch. That was on top of the other unnecessary damage she caused. Jake lets it go – again the bigger person despite getting all the blame. That entire scene bothered me.
Jake and Natalie’s steamy romance has a feel-good ending. The Whitley family’s debut story sets the stage for more to come. The story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat simple. There is a large cast of unique and interesting characters. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Jake and Natalie. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 29, 2022
WTF am I reading? Dragged myself up to 37% of the book and I simply can’t continue anymore. Just 2 days together and he’s starting to like her a lot, thinking of her, wanting to put up security cameras at her apt because of her ex. Not forgetting he’s changing his routine for her just within a short few days.
Not even a Star i would give.
Not even a Star i would give.
October 18, 2022
Layla Hagen always brings the feel good vibes, and I loved the series starter for the lovable and entertaining Whitley cre. Matchmaking the Ceo is flirty, fun, witty, and a delightfully straightforward, feel-good read. All the sweet and swoon, lively characters, and family ensemble focus I can expect from Layla Hagen.
This is chock full of tropes I love- family dynamics, grumpy-sunshine, workaholic billionaire, opposites attract, and super dreamy. Our hero Jake is a workaholic who buries some of his residual family baggage in his long hours and epic success as a businessman. But no one calls him to task like his 90 year old grandmother- and she wants him to be in charge of her big birthday pary at Martha’s Vineyard along with aspiring event planner Natalie, our down on her luck, trying to make ends meet, vivacious heroine. Despite her hardships Natalie is a ray of sunshine, and she’s going to have her work caught out for her in beautiful MV with the grumpy billionaire as her partner.
Sparks fly, banter abounds, family meddling entertains, and the chemistry sparkles. Complete with a great secondary cast, two charismatic leads, and a matchmaking granny that delights. LIke all Layla stories, our hero pivots from being a grumpy workaholic to a swoony boyfriend at just the right pace- cue all the dreamy eyes for his protective nature when it comes to helping Natalie with some of her struggles. And Natalie is such a likable and relatable heroine. This is a great start to what I hope will be a series full of the fabulous Whitley crew.
This is chock full of tropes I love- family dynamics, grumpy-sunshine, workaholic billionaire, opposites attract, and super dreamy. Our hero Jake is a workaholic who buries some of his residual family baggage in his long hours and epic success as a businessman. But no one calls him to task like his 90 year old grandmother- and she wants him to be in charge of her big birthday pary at Martha’s Vineyard along with aspiring event planner Natalie, our down on her luck, trying to make ends meet, vivacious heroine. Despite her hardships Natalie is a ray of sunshine, and she’s going to have her work caught out for her in beautiful MV with the grumpy billionaire as her partner.
Sparks fly, banter abounds, family meddling entertains, and the chemistry sparkles. Complete with a great secondary cast, two charismatic leads, and a matchmaking granny that delights. LIke all Layla stories, our hero pivots from being a grumpy workaholic to a swoony boyfriend at just the right pace- cue all the dreamy eyes for his protective nature when it comes to helping Natalie with some of her struggles. And Natalie is such a likable and relatable heroine. This is a great start to what I hope will be a series full of the fabulous Whitley crew.
September 29, 2022
5 Star review Matchmaking The CEO by Layla Hagen
Matchmaking the CEO was an entertaining read with witty banter and characters whose story you quickly become invested in.
Natalie has hit rock bottom and has decided to start all over again, Starting her own event planning business her first job is to arrange a ninetieth birthday event in Martha’s Vineyard.The only problem is the client’s grandson Jake Whitley who is arrogant, grumpy and a workaholic who has no hesitation in voicing his opinions.
Neither Natalie or Jake are looking for a relationship when they meet but sometimes fate has other plans for people. The sparks fly between these two and Jake’s grandmother is determined to match make.
When Jake makes the decision to move from New York to Boston when his grandfather becomes ill they ind themselves thrown together. The attraction and chemistry between them sizzles and it quickly becomes to much to ignore. However when Natalie’s ex starts causing trouble Jake steps up. His protective, caring attitude was swoon worthy and made me fall for him even more.
This is a well written, romantic love story about finding live when you least expect it and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Matchmaking the CEO was an entertaining read with witty banter and characters whose story you quickly become invested in.
Natalie has hit rock bottom and has decided to start all over again, Starting her own event planning business her first job is to arrange a ninetieth birthday event in Martha’s Vineyard.The only problem is the client’s grandson Jake Whitley who is arrogant, grumpy and a workaholic who has no hesitation in voicing his opinions.
Neither Natalie or Jake are looking for a relationship when they meet but sometimes fate has other plans for people. The sparks fly between these two and Jake’s grandmother is determined to match make.
When Jake makes the decision to move from New York to Boston when his grandfather becomes ill they ind themselves thrown together. The attraction and chemistry between them sizzles and it quickly becomes to much to ignore. However when Natalie’s ex starts causing trouble Jake steps up. His protective, caring attitude was swoon worthy and made me fall for him even more.
This is a well written, romantic love story about finding live when you least expect it and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
December 20, 2023
Probably at an upper spectrum of 2, but I can't bring myself to rate it a 3. Nothing against the plot and the writing; it was actually nice. But the fucking characters and their interactions killed me and killed any building excitement for the story time and again.
Sometimes the authors just simply forget that though readers know how a character is, the other character DOES NOT, because they haven't interacted with each other enough. Calling FL broody and grumpy when he (a stranger and a busy man) is acting the way he should, is not attractive. The grumpiness needs to come in action in a plausible way. And to make the trope grumpy x sunshine, the FL at the hands of the author laid it on thick—as in naive peppy thick, not smart flowery sunshine thick.
Anyhoo, a lot of these incidents just didn't do it for me.
Sometimes the authors just simply forget that though readers know how a character is, the other character DOES NOT, because they haven't interacted with each other enough. Calling FL broody and grumpy when he (a stranger and a busy man) is acting the way he should, is not attractive. The grumpiness needs to come in action in a plausible way. And to make the trope grumpy x sunshine, the FL at the hands of the author laid it on thick—as in naive peppy thick, not smart flowery sunshine thick.
Anyhoo, a lot of these incidents just didn't do it for me.
October 17, 2022
It sounded hilarious, but I actually got bored! Too melodramatic!
dnf
October 19, 2022DNF at 53%. I lost interest.
October 3, 2022
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟5* Meddling Love Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is a great start to the Whitley Family Series and is Jake’s story.
When Jake is summons back to Boston from New York to temporarily take over the struggling Whitley Advertising company until they can find a suitable CEO, he did not anticipate that his future would present itself in the form of the beautiful Natalie Summers, who is the event planner for his Grandmother Jeannie 90th Birthday party.
Jake’s life begins to upend the moment Jeannie requests that Natalie accompany him on his weekend getaway to his estate in Martha’s Vineyard as this is where she would like to celebrate her birthday. From the moment they meet there is a connection with chemistry that is waiting to be unleashed, but both are desperately trying to avoid it happening. Jake does not do relationships; he is a fully invested workaholic and Natalie has just come out of an unhealthy relationship.
When a sweet meddling grandmother gets involved, their stars align and romance blossoms. The family of brothers is also reunited and misunderstandings from the past are slowly starting to mend.
I highly recommend this steamy romance which was full of sweet banter and good feel moments. A light and fun read.
October 4, 2022
If you are looking for a entertaining, fun and witty read look no further than Natalie and Jake’s story.
Jake and Natalie are not looking for love, he is a typical businessman, too busy building his company and she is just out of a relationship and a job.
Hitting rock bottom has Natalie looking to the future and she decides to start her own event planning business and her first job is to organise a 90th birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard but what she doesn’t know is the house she is using belongs to a grumpy workaholic….enter Jake.
From the moment Jake and Natalie meet sparks fly and once Jake’s grandmother thinks a relationship could be on the cards for him she decides to go all out with her matchmaking skills. Fate seems determined to push these two together and when Jake moves to Boston they find themselves living in the same town. So what does the future hold for thus couple …..one click now to find out.
I loved everything about this book. I fell hard and fast for grumpy Jake but when he turned on his protector mode to protect Natalie my heart skipped a beat, I adored and would love Natalie as a friend but what took this romance to another level was watching this couple learning to trust and take a leap of faith together. This romance has all the feels, it’s romantic, it’s witty and its full of sizzling chemistry with wonderful characters you can’t help loving.
Jake and Natalie are not looking for love, he is a typical businessman, too busy building his company and she is just out of a relationship and a job.
Hitting rock bottom has Natalie looking to the future and she decides to start her own event planning business and her first job is to organise a 90th birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard but what she doesn’t know is the house she is using belongs to a grumpy workaholic….enter Jake.
From the moment Jake and Natalie meet sparks fly and once Jake’s grandmother thinks a relationship could be on the cards for him she decides to go all out with her matchmaking skills. Fate seems determined to push these two together and when Jake moves to Boston they find themselves living in the same town. So what does the future hold for thus couple …..one click now to find out.
I loved everything about this book. I fell hard and fast for grumpy Jake but when he turned on his protector mode to protect Natalie my heart skipped a beat, I adored and would love Natalie as a friend but what took this romance to another level was watching this couple learning to trust and take a leap of faith together. This romance has all the feels, it’s romantic, it’s witty and its full of sizzling chemistry with wonderful characters you can’t help loving.
October 6, 2022
I give 5 Glorious Stars to Matchmaking the CEO. Layla has delivered a scorching hot grumpy billionaire romance with all the fixings.
Jake is not the easiest person to get along with and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Alaska. Natalie is just trying to make ends meet after her ex costed her her job by starting an event company.
Neither of these two were looking for a relationship as Jake is married to his job and Natalie just got out of a toxic relationship. However, Jake’s grandmother has different ideas. After an unexpected event brings Jake back home, will he see that Natalie is the one for him? Will Natalie be the one to tear down the walls Jake has built?
I have to say it has been a while since I have read a book by Layla. I could not think of a better book to jump back in with then Matchmaking the CEO. Layla brought it all to the table with this book and had my emotions all over the place. I loved that the characters were down to earth and easy to connect with. Natalie is the person I aspire to be when it comes to helping people and bring out the best in others. She was an easy character to connect with from the beginning.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a grumpy/sunshine read. Jake is most definitely grumpy and Natalie is his sunshine.
I received an ARC from Wildfire in exchange for an honest review.
Jake is not the easiest person to get along with and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Alaska. Natalie is just trying to make ends meet after her ex costed her her job by starting an event company.
Neither of these two were looking for a relationship as Jake is married to his job and Natalie just got out of a toxic relationship. However, Jake’s grandmother has different ideas. After an unexpected event brings Jake back home, will he see that Natalie is the one for him? Will Natalie be the one to tear down the walls Jake has built?
I have to say it has been a while since I have read a book by Layla. I could not think of a better book to jump back in with then Matchmaking the CEO. Layla brought it all to the table with this book and had my emotions all over the place. I loved that the characters were down to earth and easy to connect with. Natalie is the person I aspire to be when it comes to helping people and bring out the best in others. She was an easy character to connect with from the beginning.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a grumpy/sunshine read. Jake is most definitely grumpy and Natalie is his sunshine.
I received an ARC from Wildfire in exchange for an honest review.
October 24, 2022
I can not say enough about Layla Hagen and the books she rights. This new book is stellar and amazing. I loved the set up by the match making Grandma. The attraction between this two is fire on the page.
I am so excited for the rest of the brother's to get their stories.
This is a must read!
Full review at Bookcaseandcoffee.com
I am so excited for the rest of the brother's to get their stories.
This is a must read!
Full review at Bookcaseandcoffee.com
October 9, 2022
Loved this story of Nathalie and Jake and whether Jake would stay at Boston and help save the family advertising business.
The chemistry between the 2 of them was electric!
Another easy read from Layla Hagen that I couldn’t stop reading.
Why is it you feel you are actually in the story.
Can’t delve into too much as I’ll give the story away.
The chemistry between the 2 of them was electric!
Another easy read from Layla Hagen that I couldn’t stop reading.
Why is it you feel you are actually in the story.
Can’t delve into too much as I’ll give the story away.
May 22, 2023
DNF @ 50% in.
This actually isn't a bad book. I just read a very, very similar book recently that was just so much better and I just kept wanting to read that instead of this. I just don't feel any joy in reading this.
This actually isn't a bad book. I just read a very, very similar book recently that was just so much better and I just kept wanting to read that instead of this. I just don't feel any joy in reading this.
April 17, 2025
Fini février 2025. Correct, l’histoire est bonne mais parfois cringe
October 6, 2022
Jake & Natalie’s Steamy Romance Has A Feel-Good Ending! The Whitley Family’s Debut Story Sets The Stage For More To Come.
This appears to be the first in an eight-book series about the Whitley brothers.
ABOUT THE WHITLEY FAMILY:
The Whitley family is complicated, to say the least. Abe and Jeannie Whitley head the family. They are grandparents. Abe, eighty-eight, had run Whitley Industries, a family company, until retiring and leaving it for his son Ryan to manage. Jeannie, eighty-nine, is a spirited grandmother. Her biggest hope is to finally become a great-grandmother, and she isn’t above a little meddling – a.k.a. matchmaking – to make it happen.
Colton Whitley, thirty-four, is a scientist and the CEO of the biotech branch of Whitley Industries. Serious and dedicated to his work, he has no social life. He has been working tirelessly on his latest project.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, chose to follow a different path. He runs his own management consultancy firm in New York City. This is his story.
Cade and Spencer, fraternal twins, are thirty-one.
Cade Whitley is the prankster of the family, but he has a sensible side as well. He developed a love for coffee in high school and now runs Whitley Industries’ The Boston Coffee Expert. His grandmother appears to have a scheme in the works involving him and an old high school friend, Meredith.
Spencer Whitley runs the publishing branch of the family company. The perfect complement to his twin, Spencer is the pacifist of the family. That doesn’t mean he never finds trouble, though.
Gabe Whitley, the youngest, is twenty-nine. He might be the carefree brother, but he didn’t make things easy for his grandmother when she took him in for his senior year of high school. He runs the family’s craft distillery. He is sometimes recognized for his appearances in distillery commercials.
Ryan Whitley, the boys’ father, secretly had a second family. Jake discovered this life-altering fact when he was twenty and doing an internship for his father at Whitley Advertising. Jake and Colton witnessed their mother’s heartache upon learning about the betrayal. The younger three boys were sheltered from it; they suffered less trauma than Jake and Colton as a result. In the aftermath, tragically, their mother fell ill and died months later. At the time, Gabe was the only minor, so at seventeen, their grandparents took him in. Their father moved to Australia after the discovery, although he left no fans behind. His second family didn’t follow him, either. Ryan had never married Nancy, the other woman, but she had no knowledge about his wife and children. She rejected him when she learned the truth. Ryan has three sons with Nancy – Maddox, Nick, and Leo.
Abe and Jeannie have made an effort to bring Maddox, Nick, and Leo into the family. The boys all agreed to move to the Boston area where, like four of their half brothers, they now each run a branch under the Whitley Industries umbrella. Even though they have lived locally for years now, it is a bit wonky that they have not been fully incorporated into family events. The younger brothers seem to have fallen in with their half brothers on the down-low, but Colton and Jake remain too traumatized to make the effort thirteen years later.
Maddox manages Whitley Office Designs. He seems uptight in some ways, yet relaxed in others. It is difficult to marry the difference. At this point, I don’t find him very likable due to the inconsistencies.
Nick oversees the fitness center branch of the family business. He recently opened an online security company as well. He and Maddox once had the same girlfriend.
Leo runs Whitley Real Estate.
IN THIS BOOK:
The story opens in Boston. It is late June.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, is a self-made man. He is CEO of New York Management Consulting and is known for his ability to turn around troubled companies. Although he could easily have gone to work running one of his family’s companies after college, he wanted nothing to do with that legacy. His entire outlook on family was destroyed when he discovered that his father kept a second family. Childhood memories of his loving parents and of happy family moments were erased in that instant. That was when Jake was twenty and interning at Whitley Advertising. The discovery destroyed his family. His mother died with a broken heart months later. Two years later, Jake finished his B.A. and left Boston behind. He still valued his family, but he wanted nothing to do with the city and the company that reminded him of his two-timing father. There were too many painful memories associated with both.
Jake got a master’s degree at NYU’s Stern School of Business and made New York his home. He lives for work, devoting years of his life to eighteen-hour days. His employees wonder if he is really a robot. He isn’t much of a people person, though he knows how to turn on the charm when needed. Jake prefers working with numbers. He also likes schedules. He believes in strict discipline in every aspect of his life. He is confident, stubborn, and known for his difficult personality. He eventually recognized the need for a little downtime, so he has a monthly weekend retreat at his Martha’s Vineyard estate. It is a time to decompress and meditate. Back home in New York, he now makes time for dating and working out. Although he dates, he has never cared about a woman. He makes his grandparents and brothers a priority in his life, but Jake has no intention of having a family of his own.
Natalie Summers, thirty, was born with a wholesome and cheerful disposition. She is stubborn in a good way – her tenacity helps drive her success. She is undaunted in the face of life’s challenges. In fact, she enjoys a good challenge. She now finds herself in a financial bind, thanks to her ex-boyfriend Vince. She lost her job three months ago. Worse, her former employer is refusing to provide a letter of recommendation, hindering her job search. Natalie was the first in her family to earn a degree, something she is proud of, but the competition in her field is fierce. She earned a degree in computer science and spent five years working in predictive analytics. She is working with a recruiter, but the process takes a while. Her parents moved to Greece to live near her two sisters, so she doesn’t have family to lean on. Since Natalie spent years assisting her mother run a party planning business, when her funds begin to run dry, she opens up her own. Natalie’s Event Agency went live online days before when she gets her first call. Jeannie Whitley is turning ninety and wants to throw a big party – and she wants Natalie to manage the event.
Jeannie Whitley is a force to be reconned with. She listens to her intuition when she comes across Natalie’s website, and she begins to set the stage for a grand scheme. In addition to wanting great-grandchildren, she wants Jake to move back home to Boston. With that in mind, she plays matchmaker with him and the local woman.
When Jake’s grandmother asks him to host her birthday party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate, he doesn’t know how to say no to her. When she insists that he pick up her event planner and take her with him on his next trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he still cannot refuse her. Nevertheless, he wants nothing to do with the woman – Natalie Summers – and already hates her. But soon after meeting the somewhat naïve beauty, he finds himself amused by her banter. She is authentic and real in a way he hasn’t experienced in a woman before. When Natalie sees Jake for the first time, she is electrified. His powerful gaze captivates her, but he is just as difficult and stubborn as Jeannie had warned. He is proper and all business, never an unguarded moment. Still, she cannot help but admire his sense of command.
When Jake learns that his grandfather has stepped in to help run Whitley Advertising, he is concerned that his grandfather is overextending himself and unhappy that nobody had discussed it with him. With no CEO for months, the company is floundering. And when Jake takes a closer look, it appears his father left the company in worse shape than anyone realized. Since Jake is in the business of turning companies around, he is the perfect person to step in and take charge. The only problem is that Jake is already a CEO and has no intention of leaving New York. A medical emergency finally convinces Jake that he has no choice but to move to Boston temporarily. He plans to turn Whitley Advertising around and either sell it off or find a new CEO. The move also puts him in Natalie’s sphere. As the pair begin to spend time with one another, they know their time is limited. Jake must face his past when he returns home. As he spends time with Natalie, he begins to discover new things about himself and rethink his beliefs. Natalie struggles with the direction of her life as she tries to put the past behind her. She doesn’t want another relationship after things ended so badly with her ex, Vince. Jake and Natalie don’t have a future, but they decide to enjoy the little bit of time that they do have together. The couple eventually finds a happy ending.
It appears that Cade’s story with his high school friend Meredith will follow.
Jake and Natalie’s romance is a light story about the importance of family. The Whitley family is introduced here, which is a complicated story in itself. There is a lot of heartache, but they are trying to move forward and make the most of what they have. Jake is the only one pulling away entirely. He is not conflicted about his half brothers or Whitley Industries – he doesn’t feel any sense of responsibility toward either. On the other hand, he has a keen sense of responsibility toward his grandparents and keeps in touch with his brothers. He doesn’t really feel like he is missing out on much, and in his mind, he is living a full life in New York. It takes one slightly quirky and surprisingly direct beauty to challenge his thinking and have him reexamining his regimented lifestyle. She amuses him, and he finds himself more relaxed and happy than he has been in years.
Natalie’s life is a mess when Jake enters it. She is in no position to begin a new relationship. She still feels the burn of her last breakup. She hadn’t been a good judge of character with Vince, and she paid the price. She is also financially unstable without a steady job. Jake’s instinct is to offer help, but Natalie doesn’t want to be his charity case. As her job prospects grow dim, she begins an event planning business to bring in some cash on the side, but even that might not be enough to bridge the gap until she finds employment again. She faces some tough choices.
There are a few issues that merit mention. *Spoilers* There is an occasional minor timeline error that causes confusion. Additionally, there are a few confusing or vague passages, some of which are later clarified, so be patient. Later in the story, there is an event that brings together all the brothers and half brothers for the first time. This is not credible. It feels manufactured for the convenience of the storyline. The grandparents talked the half brothers into moving to the area and gave them jobs running companies under the Whitley Industries umbrella. This was sometime after Jake left eleven years ago, but still, they have lived locally for a number of years now. It is hard to imagine that holidays and other events have passed by all these years without all being together. It felt strange learning about the half brothers being welcomed by the grandparents, yet not being invited to family meetings and meals. Next, there is an issue between Jake and Maddox later in the story. Everyone seems to blame Jake, but I didn’t buy it. Jake walked into something unawares, completely at a disadvantage. Maddox understood initially he should have handled things differently, but when faced with his choice to go along, he throws it in Jake’s face. Knowing Jake has a reason to feel concerned and even betrayed, and that the situation was heated and emotional, he nonetheless provokes Jake. When Jake takes the high road later and reaches out, Maddox is again proactive for no good reason. He had initially come across as reasonable in the story, but after that, I didn’t like him at all. I don’t want to read his story at this point. I don’t care for people who kick you when you are down. And I didn’t understand why everyone threw all the blame on Jake. It was Natalie who was largely to blame, and Maddox made a conscious choice as well. The point is, there was a lot of blame to go around. Finally, Natalie chose to have an emotional conversation with Jake in a spot where all of his brothers could watch. That was on top of the other unnecessary damage she caused. Jake lets it go – again the bigger person despite getting all the blame. That entire scene bothered me.
Jake and Natalie’s steamy romance has a feel-good ending. The Whitley family’s debut story sets the stage for more to come. The story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat simple. There is a large cast of unique and interesting characters. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Jake and Natalie. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This appears to be the first in an eight-book series about the Whitley brothers.
ABOUT THE WHITLEY FAMILY:
The Whitley family is complicated, to say the least. Abe and Jeannie Whitley head the family. They are grandparents. Abe, eighty-eight, had run Whitley Industries, a family company, until retiring and leaving it for his son Ryan to manage. Jeannie, eighty-nine, is a spirited grandmother. Her biggest hope is to finally become a great-grandmother, and she isn’t above a little meddling – a.k.a. matchmaking – to make it happen.
Colton Whitley, thirty-four, is a scientist and the CEO of the biotech branch of Whitley Industries. Serious and dedicated to his work, he has no social life. He has been working tirelessly on his latest project.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, chose to follow a different path. He runs his own management consultancy firm in New York City. This is his story.
Cade and Spencer, fraternal twins, are thirty-one.
Cade Whitley is the prankster of the family, but he has a sensible side as well. He developed a love for coffee in high school and now runs Whitley Industries’ The Boston Coffee Expert. His grandmother appears to have a scheme in the works involving him and an old high school friend, Meredith.
Spencer Whitley runs the publishing branch of the family company. The perfect complement to his twin, Spencer is the pacifist of the family. That doesn’t mean he never finds trouble, though.
Gabe Whitley, the youngest, is twenty-nine. He might be the carefree brother, but he didn’t make things easy for his grandmother when she took him in for his senior year of high school. He runs the family’s craft distillery. He is sometimes recognized for his appearances in distillery commercials.
Ryan Whitley, the boys’ father, secretly had a second family. Jake discovered this life-altering fact when he was twenty and doing an internship for his father at Whitley Advertising. Jake and Colton witnessed their mother’s heartache upon learning about the betrayal. The younger three boys were sheltered from it; they suffered less trauma than Jake and Colton as a result. In the aftermath, tragically, their mother fell ill and died months later. At the time, Gabe was the only minor, so at seventeen, their grandparents took him in. Their father moved to Australia after the discovery, although he left no fans behind. His second family didn’t follow him, either. Ryan had never married Nancy, the other woman, but she had no knowledge about his wife and children. She rejected him when she learned the truth. Ryan has three sons with Nancy – Maddox, Nick, and Leo.
Abe and Jeannie have made an effort to bring Maddox, Nick, and Leo into the family. The boys all agreed to move to the Boston area where, like four of their half brothers, they now each run a branch under the Whitley Industries umbrella. Even though they have lived locally for years now, it is a bit wonky that they have not been fully incorporated into family events. The younger brothers seem to have fallen in with their half brothers on the down-low, but Colton and Jake remain too traumatized to make the effort thirteen years later.
Maddox manages Whitley Office Designs. He seems uptight in some ways, yet relaxed in others. It is difficult to marry the difference. At this point, I don’t find him very likable due to the inconsistencies.
Nick oversees the fitness center branch of the family business. He recently opened an online security company as well. He and Maddox once had the same girlfriend.
Leo runs Whitley Real Estate.
IN THIS BOOK:
The story opens in Boston. It is late June.
Jake Whitley, thirty-three, is a self-made man. He is CEO of New York Management Consulting and is known for his ability to turn around troubled companies. Although he could easily have gone to work running one of his family’s companies after college, he wanted nothing to do with that legacy. His entire outlook on family was destroyed when he discovered that his father kept a second family. Childhood memories of his loving parents and of happy family moments were erased in that instant. That was when Jake was twenty and interning at Whitley Advertising. The discovery destroyed his family. His mother died with a broken heart months later. Two years later, Jake finished his B.A. and left Boston behind. He still valued his family, but he wanted nothing to do with the city and the company that reminded him of his two-timing father. There were too many painful memories associated with both.
Jake got a master’s degree at NYU’s Stern School of Business and made New York his home. He lives for work, devoting years of his life to eighteen-hour days. His employees wonder if he is really a robot. He isn’t much of a people person, though he knows how to turn on the charm when needed. Jake prefers working with numbers. He also likes schedules. He believes in strict discipline in every aspect of his life. He is confident, stubborn, and known for his difficult personality. He eventually recognized the need for a little downtime, so he has a monthly weekend retreat at his Martha’s Vineyard estate. It is a time to decompress and meditate. Back home in New York, he now makes time for dating and working out. Although he dates, he has never cared about a woman. He makes his grandparents and brothers a priority in his life, but Jake has no intention of having a family of his own.
Natalie Summers, thirty, was born with a wholesome and cheerful disposition. She is stubborn in a good way – her tenacity helps drive her success. She is undaunted in the face of life’s challenges. In fact, she enjoys a good challenge. She now finds herself in a financial bind, thanks to her ex-boyfriend Vince. She lost her job three months ago. Worse, her former employer is refusing to provide a letter of recommendation, hindering her job search. Natalie was the first in her family to earn a degree, something she is proud of, but the competition in her field is fierce. She earned a degree in computer science and spent five years working in predictive analytics. She is working with a recruiter, but the process takes a while. Her parents moved to Greece to live near her two sisters, so she doesn’t have family to lean on. Since Natalie spent years assisting her mother run a party planning business, when her funds begin to run dry, she opens up her own. Natalie’s Event Agency went live online days before when she gets her first call. Jeannie Whitley is turning ninety and wants to throw a big party – and she wants Natalie to manage the event.
Jeannie Whitley is a force to be reconned with. She listens to her intuition when she comes across Natalie’s website, and she begins to set the stage for a grand scheme. In addition to wanting great-grandchildren, she wants Jake to move back home to Boston. With that in mind, she plays matchmaker with him and the local woman.
When Jake’s grandmother asks him to host her birthday party at his Martha’s Vineyard estate, he doesn’t know how to say no to her. When she insists that he pick up her event planner and take her with him on his next trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he still cannot refuse her. Nevertheless, he wants nothing to do with the woman – Natalie Summers – and already hates her. But soon after meeting the somewhat naïve beauty, he finds himself amused by her banter. She is authentic and real in a way he hasn’t experienced in a woman before. When Natalie sees Jake for the first time, she is electrified. His powerful gaze captivates her, but he is just as difficult and stubborn as Jeannie had warned. He is proper and all business, never an unguarded moment. Still, she cannot help but admire his sense of command.
When Jake learns that his grandfather has stepped in to help run Whitley Advertising, he is concerned that his grandfather is overextending himself and unhappy that nobody had discussed it with him. With no CEO for months, the company is floundering. And when Jake takes a closer look, it appears his father left the company in worse shape than anyone realized. Since Jake is in the business of turning companies around, he is the perfect person to step in and take charge. The only problem is that Jake is already a CEO and has no intention of leaving New York. A medical emergency finally convinces Jake that he has no choice but to move to Boston temporarily. He plans to turn Whitley Advertising around and either sell it off or find a new CEO. The move also puts him in Natalie’s sphere. As the pair begin to spend time with one another, they know their time is limited. Jake must face his past when he returns home. As he spends time with Natalie, he begins to discover new things about himself and rethink his beliefs. Natalie struggles with the direction of her life as she tries to put the past behind her. She doesn’t want another relationship after things ended so badly with her ex, Vince. Jake and Natalie don’t have a future, but they decide to enjoy the little bit of time that they do have together. The couple eventually finds a happy ending.
It appears that Cade’s story with his high school friend Meredith will follow.
Jake and Natalie’s romance is a light story about the importance of family. The Whitley family is introduced here, which is a complicated story in itself. There is a lot of heartache, but they are trying to move forward and make the most of what they have. Jake is the only one pulling away entirely. He is not conflicted about his half brothers or Whitley Industries – he doesn’t feel any sense of responsibility toward either. On the other hand, he has a keen sense of responsibility toward his grandparents and keeps in touch with his brothers. He doesn’t really feel like he is missing out on much, and in his mind, he is living a full life in New York. It takes one slightly quirky and surprisingly direct beauty to challenge his thinking and have him reexamining his regimented lifestyle. She amuses him, and he finds himself more relaxed and happy than he has been in years.
Natalie’s life is a mess when Jake enters it. She is in no position to begin a new relationship. She still feels the burn of her last breakup. She hadn’t been a good judge of character with Vince, and she paid the price. She is also financially unstable without a steady job. Jake’s instinct is to offer help, but Natalie doesn’t want to be his charity case. As her job prospects grow dim, she begins an event planning business to bring in some cash on the side, but even that might not be enough to bridge the gap until she finds employment again. She faces some tough choices.
There are a few issues that merit mention. *Spoilers* There is an occasional minor timeline error that causes confusion. Additionally, there are a few confusing or vague passages, some of which are later clarified, so be patient. Later in the story, there is an event that brings together all the brothers and half brothers for the first time. This is not credible. It feels manufactured for the convenience of the storyline. The grandparents talked the half brothers into moving to the area and gave them jobs running companies under the Whitley Industries umbrella. This was sometime after Jake left eleven years ago, but still, they have lived locally for a number of years now. It is hard to imagine that holidays and other events have passed by all these years without all being together. It felt strange learning about the half brothers being welcomed by the grandparents, yet not being invited to family meetings and meals. Next, there is an issue between Jake and Maddox later in the story. Everyone seems to blame Jake, but I didn’t buy it. Jake walked into something unawares, completely at a disadvantage. Maddox understood initially he should have handled things differently, but when faced with his choice to go along, he throws it in Jake’s face. Knowing Jake has a reason to feel concerned and even betrayed, and that the situation was heated and emotional, he nonetheless provokes Jake. When Jake takes the high road later and reaches out, Maddox is again proactive for no good reason. He had initially come across as reasonable in the story, but after that, I didn’t like him at all. I don’t want to read his story at this point. I don’t care for people who kick you when you are down. And I didn’t understand why everyone threw all the blame on Jake. It was Natalie who was largely to blame, and Maddox made a conscious choice as well. The point is, there was a lot of blame to go around. Finally, Natalie chose to have an emotional conversation with Jake in a spot where all of his brothers could watch. That was on top of the other unnecessary damage she caused. Jake lets it go – again the bigger person despite getting all the blame. That entire scene bothered me.
Jake and Natalie’s steamy romance has a feel-good ending. The Whitley family’s debut story sets the stage for more to come. The story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat simple. There is a large cast of unique and interesting characters. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Jake and Natalie. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 27, 2022
If this is what Layla Hagen considers ‘romance’ then that is a slightly unsettling insight into her mind. It’s always a worry when a relationship begins with love at first sight but not only is the relationship displayed completely one sided, even though they both have mutual feelings for one another, it is also fairly toxic.
Firstly, why is it one sided? Two reasons. One, what they each put in and two, what they each get out. Jake is running two businesses here. We are told he works twelve plus hour days basically every day of the week and yet he is the one constantly running around after and making time to spend with Natalie. He takes her places, makes the effort to learn important things about her, cooks for her occasionally, drives her around. Natalie doesn’t really do anything for Jake in this regard. The best she does is meddle slightly later in the book to bring Jake and his half-brother closer but they were basically fine with each other anyway. I can’t see an interpretation in which she is putting in more than him.
Two, aside from how the relationship is run, who provides what to who? Natalie gets an unimaginably wealthy, muscular, desirable, family orientated, you name it guy who is willing to provide a solution to all her problems and Jakes gets a nice, good-looking girl. The only problem he has is his grandfather’s business failing which he solves unaided.
Not that this is a competition but Jake brings a lot more to the relationship. This can be a fine dynamic, after all relationships do not have to be perfectly balanced, most are probably around 60:40, but in good ones both parties are trying to be the one to put in the most. But in this scenario, that’s not the case and it is difficult to imagine that it is truly the person Natalie falls in love with and not everything else Jake has going for him.
If only Natalie could have provided something of unique value to Jake. Maybe she has a particular skill which proves invaluable, or gives him some advice, or changes his perspective allowing him to overcome a particular issue such as finding a way to make Whitley advertising profitable or on how to find a suitable CEO to take over. In the end Jake promotes Ben to run his business while he takes over Whitley advertising, maybe that could have been Natalies idea. It’s a simple change that could have provided a lot of value to Natalies character and for Jake it would have allowed him to lessen his workload, focus more on Whitley advertising, and spend more time with Natalie and his family.
So why is the relationship toxic? Well, if you’ve read the whole thing, you can’t have missed all the possessive language from Jake. He is frequently possessive, insecure, jealous, and moody around Natalie with waiters, strangers, and even his own family. The fact that he feels the need to behave this way indicates he has a very low level of trust in her if he feels he needs to fend off every guy who might find her attractive rather than trusting her to remain loyal.
Considering that Natalie just got out of a relationship with another control freak who would turn up unexpectedly during the day, I seriously have to question her psychology seeing as she is okay with similar behaviour from Jake. In fact, she seems to relish seeing Jake intimidate other guys, such as with the waiter. It shows something of a nasty side to her. I mean, as bad as Vince was described, Jakes behaviour can easily be seen as even more alarming. From what we’re told, Vince didn’t become controlling or abusive until the very end of their relationship after being turned down for a promotion which Natalie got. Jake displays controlling and possessive behaviour right from the start. God only knows what hell he could unleash on Natalie’s life if she tried to split up with him. He clearly doesn’t show much respect for boundaries given how after a run in with Vince that somehow ends with Jake and his half-brother falling out and Natalie getting pissed with Jake, going home and asking to be left alone, he just shows up at her door the following morning! Jesus Christ man, give her space!
You would think that given her past experiences she would be wary of this sort of thing, but no. I hate when authors romanticize this. I get the feeling that if he wasn’t hot and he wasn’t rich that people wouldn’t see this as okay, so why would it be okay in the first place? You certainly won’t find the answer in this book.
In fairness though I very much doubt that the author wrote it like this intentionally. It was probably meant to be come across as endearingly protective but just went too far at times.
On the subject of Vince, it is hard at the beginning to really feel any one way about him. We are given such little information on him, much less anything that’s concrete indication he’s a bad guy aside from Natalies reaction to his letter then later her description of events. Jake certainly doesn’t have a whole lot to go by when she gets a phone call from Vince, he takes the phone and threatens him anyway. This doesn’t make Jake look good. He might be defending his woman but Vince, to be honest, gave him no indication violence was necessary, and is still an unknown force and Jake just escalated the situation. Before you know, as is pretty true to real life unfortunately with such people, Vince is turning up at Natalies work place again. Well done, Jake.
Another reason why I can’t see much romantic connection is that their feelings for one another are entirely based on appearances. Good love interests appeal physically, mentally and spiritually to one another. All we get from these two is physical. When Jake thinks of Natalie it is always in a sexual manner and vice versa. They don’t appeal to one another mentally, their dialogue is very stiff and forced, they don’t encourage each other to question themselves or to grow, to see things in a new light. It is quite disappointing knowing that if they didn’t find each other hot then there would most likely be absolutely no relationship between them whatsoever.
While there is a lot of good description of what love and romance looks like, I can’t find a lot of explanation for these effects. We constantly read lines like ‘but for some unexplained reason why…’ or we are simply told things about our characters out right rather than shown.
While they both seem very set on each other, Natalie never goes out of her way for Jake like he does for her even though he is the one with the huge workload and even though we are given the impression she is madly in love with him, she certainly seems to prioritise her work over their relationship. I understand the desire for independence but if he really means that much to you why would you not find a job outside of your field so that you can be closer together? If I remember correctly, she says at one point in the book she is willing to do cleaning work to get by if necessary but she won’t do this in another city to stay near Jake?
No, instead she is willing to strain her relationship by moving to another city to pursue work that uses her degree or to do party planning. Both consider it to basically mean an end to the relationship if one of them has to move away so why risk it? Jake is certainly willing to make sacrifices for her. Why would Natalie not put aside her pride and either let Jake get her a job, like he offered, or just risk finding a lower paid job in New York?
Unless, of course she doesn’t truly see a future in the relationship, which her actions would indicate is the case. After all she doesn’t even need to work if she sees herself with Jake in the future. Despite what we are constantly told about how Natalie feels about Jake, her actions are contrary to her feelings.
Jakes feelings are at least consistent with his actions. I mean it’s daft that he takes the morning off on his first day of work at Whitely advertising to go and see Natalie when he’s trying to save his grandfathers business. The business he initially declined to help because of time constraints and here he is now with 2 jobs instead of one, making time to see Natalie and restricting his time even more! But okay, it is consistent with how he feels.
Small things I picked up on include poor descriptive language. There is one scene where Jake takes Natalie to a clearing in the trees on his property and she describes seeing the sunset reflected on water but we are never told what water or how she is able to see it if she is in a woodland clearing. Another includes the freedom trail which is made out to be this beautiful scenic walk through Boston but we hardly get any description of it at all. When I googled images of it, I would never have been able to conjure up those images from the scant detail provided. The reader has to do a lot of the lifting with the imagery. One final point that sticks out to me was when Natalie describes what she likes about Boston, she doesn’t include any personal aspects about the city, no unique details, instead she says I like the buildings, the harbour, the ice cream, all generic things you could find in hundreds of other cities around the world. She’s lived here all her life, surely she could attribute some personal significance to the city in some way.
It is also kind of hard to stomach when the whole world seems to revolve around the two main characters. Jakes grandfather has a heart attack so he and Natalie, the party planner for some reason, rush to his grandparent’s home to see him. He is closely followed through the door by his brothers and the whole conversation starts revolving around Jake before Jeannie has to give a run-down of each brother. Meanwhile their grandad is upstairs recovering. Surely, the normal thing to do would be to ask how he is doing first then have a nice catch up. Same again when Jake picks up Natalie and Larissa from the hospital, considering Larissa is Natalies best friend and has just suffered a severe allergic reaction, he never asks how she is or if she needs anything. External events awkwardly take a backseat with these two around.
As for the plot I can’t say there’s much going on there either. There is an indication of family beef between Jake and his half-brothers that never manifests because as it turns out they don’t dislike anything more than the idea of one another. All the brothers remain indistinguishable and as with other side characters are simply there to talk about the two main characters, preventing them coming across as their own discrete characters.
Vince is made out to be the bad guy of the book but only appears shortly twice toward the end then just goes away after Jake threatens him again.
It is indicated that Jeannie, Jakes grandmother, picked Natalie as a party planner for her to form a relationship with Jake but again it is very forced and I really don’t want to go into describing the absurdity of it.
And finally as predicted Jake saves the business, takes over as CEO and lives happily ever after with Natalie in Boston. There aren’t any speed bumps or setbacks, everything follows an untroubled linear progression. I can’t say it was very interesting to me.
Its extra disappointing because there are a lot of elements for an interesting story here. Jake, a reluctant hero yet to come to terms with his mother's early death and fathers' infidelity, moving back to his home city to take over the reins of his grandfather's failing business after he suffers a heart attack. Natalie a down on her luck woman looking for a chance in life and to get away from her abusive ex.
So little is done with all this potential though. Neither of them is looking for a relationship, it just kind of happens and like everything else in the book it all falls neatly into place without feeling deserved or worked for.
Firstly, why is it one sided? Two reasons. One, what they each put in and two, what they each get out. Jake is running two businesses here. We are told he works twelve plus hour days basically every day of the week and yet he is the one constantly running around after and making time to spend with Natalie. He takes her places, makes the effort to learn important things about her, cooks for her occasionally, drives her around. Natalie doesn’t really do anything for Jake in this regard. The best she does is meddle slightly later in the book to bring Jake and his half-brother closer but they were basically fine with each other anyway. I can’t see an interpretation in which she is putting in more than him.
Two, aside from how the relationship is run, who provides what to who? Natalie gets an unimaginably wealthy, muscular, desirable, family orientated, you name it guy who is willing to provide a solution to all her problems and Jakes gets a nice, good-looking girl. The only problem he has is his grandfather’s business failing which he solves unaided.
Not that this is a competition but Jake brings a lot more to the relationship. This can be a fine dynamic, after all relationships do not have to be perfectly balanced, most are probably around 60:40, but in good ones both parties are trying to be the one to put in the most. But in this scenario, that’s not the case and it is difficult to imagine that it is truly the person Natalie falls in love with and not everything else Jake has going for him.
If only Natalie could have provided something of unique value to Jake. Maybe she has a particular skill which proves invaluable, or gives him some advice, or changes his perspective allowing him to overcome a particular issue such as finding a way to make Whitley advertising profitable or on how to find a suitable CEO to take over. In the end Jake promotes Ben to run his business while he takes over Whitley advertising, maybe that could have been Natalies idea. It’s a simple change that could have provided a lot of value to Natalies character and for Jake it would have allowed him to lessen his workload, focus more on Whitley advertising, and spend more time with Natalie and his family.
So why is the relationship toxic? Well, if you’ve read the whole thing, you can’t have missed all the possessive language from Jake. He is frequently possessive, insecure, jealous, and moody around Natalie with waiters, strangers, and even his own family. The fact that he feels the need to behave this way indicates he has a very low level of trust in her if he feels he needs to fend off every guy who might find her attractive rather than trusting her to remain loyal.
Considering that Natalie just got out of a relationship with another control freak who would turn up unexpectedly during the day, I seriously have to question her psychology seeing as she is okay with similar behaviour from Jake. In fact, she seems to relish seeing Jake intimidate other guys, such as with the waiter. It shows something of a nasty side to her. I mean, as bad as Vince was described, Jakes behaviour can easily be seen as even more alarming. From what we’re told, Vince didn’t become controlling or abusive until the very end of their relationship after being turned down for a promotion which Natalie got. Jake displays controlling and possessive behaviour right from the start. God only knows what hell he could unleash on Natalie’s life if she tried to split up with him. He clearly doesn’t show much respect for boundaries given how after a run in with Vince that somehow ends with Jake and his half-brother falling out and Natalie getting pissed with Jake, going home and asking to be left alone, he just shows up at her door the following morning! Jesus Christ man, give her space!
You would think that given her past experiences she would be wary of this sort of thing, but no. I hate when authors romanticize this. I get the feeling that if he wasn’t hot and he wasn’t rich that people wouldn’t see this as okay, so why would it be okay in the first place? You certainly won’t find the answer in this book.
In fairness though I very much doubt that the author wrote it like this intentionally. It was probably meant to be come across as endearingly protective but just went too far at times.
On the subject of Vince, it is hard at the beginning to really feel any one way about him. We are given such little information on him, much less anything that’s concrete indication he’s a bad guy aside from Natalies reaction to his letter then later her description of events. Jake certainly doesn’t have a whole lot to go by when she gets a phone call from Vince, he takes the phone and threatens him anyway. This doesn’t make Jake look good. He might be defending his woman but Vince, to be honest, gave him no indication violence was necessary, and is still an unknown force and Jake just escalated the situation. Before you know, as is pretty true to real life unfortunately with such people, Vince is turning up at Natalies work place again. Well done, Jake.
Another reason why I can’t see much romantic connection is that their feelings for one another are entirely based on appearances. Good love interests appeal physically, mentally and spiritually to one another. All we get from these two is physical. When Jake thinks of Natalie it is always in a sexual manner and vice versa. They don’t appeal to one another mentally, their dialogue is very stiff and forced, they don’t encourage each other to question themselves or to grow, to see things in a new light. It is quite disappointing knowing that if they didn’t find each other hot then there would most likely be absolutely no relationship between them whatsoever.
While there is a lot of good description of what love and romance looks like, I can’t find a lot of explanation for these effects. We constantly read lines like ‘but for some unexplained reason why…’ or we are simply told things about our characters out right rather than shown.
While they both seem very set on each other, Natalie never goes out of her way for Jake like he does for her even though he is the one with the huge workload and even though we are given the impression she is madly in love with him, she certainly seems to prioritise her work over their relationship. I understand the desire for independence but if he really means that much to you why would you not find a job outside of your field so that you can be closer together? If I remember correctly, she says at one point in the book she is willing to do cleaning work to get by if necessary but she won’t do this in another city to stay near Jake?
No, instead she is willing to strain her relationship by moving to another city to pursue work that uses her degree or to do party planning. Both consider it to basically mean an end to the relationship if one of them has to move away so why risk it? Jake is certainly willing to make sacrifices for her. Why would Natalie not put aside her pride and either let Jake get her a job, like he offered, or just risk finding a lower paid job in New York?
Unless, of course she doesn’t truly see a future in the relationship, which her actions would indicate is the case. After all she doesn’t even need to work if she sees herself with Jake in the future. Despite what we are constantly told about how Natalie feels about Jake, her actions are contrary to her feelings.
Jakes feelings are at least consistent with his actions. I mean it’s daft that he takes the morning off on his first day of work at Whitely advertising to go and see Natalie when he’s trying to save his grandfathers business. The business he initially declined to help because of time constraints and here he is now with 2 jobs instead of one, making time to see Natalie and restricting his time even more! But okay, it is consistent with how he feels.
Small things I picked up on include poor descriptive language. There is one scene where Jake takes Natalie to a clearing in the trees on his property and she describes seeing the sunset reflected on water but we are never told what water or how she is able to see it if she is in a woodland clearing. Another includes the freedom trail which is made out to be this beautiful scenic walk through Boston but we hardly get any description of it at all. When I googled images of it, I would never have been able to conjure up those images from the scant detail provided. The reader has to do a lot of the lifting with the imagery. One final point that sticks out to me was when Natalie describes what she likes about Boston, she doesn’t include any personal aspects about the city, no unique details, instead she says I like the buildings, the harbour, the ice cream, all generic things you could find in hundreds of other cities around the world. She’s lived here all her life, surely she could attribute some personal significance to the city in some way.
It is also kind of hard to stomach when the whole world seems to revolve around the two main characters. Jakes grandfather has a heart attack so he and Natalie, the party planner for some reason, rush to his grandparent’s home to see him. He is closely followed through the door by his brothers and the whole conversation starts revolving around Jake before Jeannie has to give a run-down of each brother. Meanwhile their grandad is upstairs recovering. Surely, the normal thing to do would be to ask how he is doing first then have a nice catch up. Same again when Jake picks up Natalie and Larissa from the hospital, considering Larissa is Natalies best friend and has just suffered a severe allergic reaction, he never asks how she is or if she needs anything. External events awkwardly take a backseat with these two around.
As for the plot I can’t say there’s much going on there either. There is an indication of family beef between Jake and his half-brothers that never manifests because as it turns out they don’t dislike anything more than the idea of one another. All the brothers remain indistinguishable and as with other side characters are simply there to talk about the two main characters, preventing them coming across as their own discrete characters.
Vince is made out to be the bad guy of the book but only appears shortly twice toward the end then just goes away after Jake threatens him again.
It is indicated that Jeannie, Jakes grandmother, picked Natalie as a party planner for her to form a relationship with Jake but again it is very forced and I really don’t want to go into describing the absurdity of it.
And finally as predicted Jake saves the business, takes over as CEO and lives happily ever after with Natalie in Boston. There aren’t any speed bumps or setbacks, everything follows an untroubled linear progression. I can’t say it was very interesting to me.
Its extra disappointing because there are a lot of elements for an interesting story here. Jake, a reluctant hero yet to come to terms with his mother's early death and fathers' infidelity, moving back to his home city to take over the reins of his grandfather's failing business after he suffers a heart attack. Natalie a down on her luck woman looking for a chance in life and to get away from her abusive ex.
So little is done with all this potential though. Neither of them is looking for a relationship, it just kind of happens and like everything else in the book it all falls neatly into place without feeling deserved or worked for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2022
This is the absolute best! An amazing start to a new series and I'm only looking forward to more. Natalie and Jake surprised me and sucked me in right away. And I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. It's just amazing. Every single second of reading this book is a chef's kiss. I wished I was reading it for the first time again.
September 29, 2022
I adore a meddling grandma! When Natalie's life implodes and she's forced to start over, she reverts to the job skills she learned from her mom and starts her own party planning business.
I enjoyed watching the family dynamics between not only Jake and his brothers, but his half-brothers as well. There's so much depth to him and why he's such a workaholic, and I fell for him even harder the more that's revealed.
I truly appreciate when a book tells more than just the romance between the MC's, and tugs at your heart strings. Grumpy/Sunshine that will make you smile, a conspiring grandmother who wants great-grandkids more than anything, and a harassing ex-boyfriend that won't move on.
This was beautifully written and highly entertaining! I'd definitely revisit this story again in the future and hope to see more from the family.
I enjoyed watching the family dynamics between not only Jake and his brothers, but his half-brothers as well. There's so much depth to him and why he's such a workaholic, and I fell for him even harder the more that's revealed.
I truly appreciate when a book tells more than just the romance between the MC's, and tugs at your heart strings. Grumpy/Sunshine that will make you smile, a conspiring grandmother who wants great-grandkids more than anything, and a harassing ex-boyfriend that won't move on.
This was beautifully written and highly entertaining! I'd definitely revisit this story again in the future and hope to see more from the family.
October 22, 2022
Matchmaking the C.E.O. is the first book in Layla Hagen’s new Whitley Brothers series. Hagan has built her successful writing career around series based around families with a large number of male (and sometimes a few females) professionally successful, often confirmed bachelors falling in love. While using pretty much the same formula she has managed to keep each of her characters and their stories fresh enough so that her stories don’t feel like they are recycled with characters where only the names have been changed. With seven Whitley brothers there will be plenty more books in this series from where this one came from.
Jake Whitley the second oldest Whitley brother is the workaholic C.E.O of the consulting company he started. His entire time, energy and focus since college graduation has been building his New York City based company into the highly sought after and successful consulting firm it is today some ten plus years later. The driving force behind Jake’s ambition is his desire to build something successful outside of his family’s Whitley Industry conglomerate of companies his brothers all run in Boston because he wants to put as much distance between himself and his father’s legacy as he can. At 21 years old Jake discovered his father was cheating on his mother and had a whole other family including 3 half-brothers he’d been hiding for years. When his affair is discovered his father flees the country for Australia, never to be heard from again. Jake’s mother was so shattered to learn of her husband’s duplicity she spirals into depression and dies of cancer shortly thereafter. Jake is so destroyed by his father’s behavior and its impact on his mother that even the pull of the love he has for his beloved paternal grandparents Jeanie and Abe, and brothers will allow him to live and work in Boston where he was raised. So he’s made his life in New York City with only rare brief trips back to Boston to spend time with his family. Jake may be a brilliant businessman who can help turn around failing companies but he’s gruff and short with people, used to people respecting him and deferring to his wishes. He is always uptight a bit stuffy and pretty much has almost no people skills allowing for his reputation of getting results to speak for him and get away with his gruff behavior. Of course he’s devastatingly handsome with the same natural good looks he shares with his siblings and a body that thanks to regular intense workouts looks like it belongs to a Men’s Health Fitness cover model.
Jake’s soon to be 90 years old Grandmother Jeannie is the matchmaker in this story and series. She wants to see her grandsons happily married and she wants great grandbabies. She wants to throw a birthday party for herself and find a woman for her difficult grandson Jake who is working himself into an early grave in the process. Doing an internet search for an event planner, Jeannie finds Natalie Summers a gorgeous thirty year old’s website. After phone and in person interviews where Jeannie’s questions have more to do with Natalie’s personal life than her party planning resume`, she hires Natalie to plan her birthday party and goes about setting her up with Jake.
Thirty-year-old Natalie is an optimistic happy person by nature but at this point in her life she’s struggling both personally and professionally. Her parents and two older married sisters have all recently moved to Greece for career opportunities leaving her with only her BFF Larissa still in Boston. But Larissa a yoga instructor is planning on a trip to Bali for an unspecified length of time to shoot yoga videos for her YouTube channel. I could be totally wrong but I suspect at some point the beautiful and single Larissa will end up paired with one of the many Whitley brothers. Perhaps Colton the eldest and closest to Jake? Natalie is the only person in her family to earn a college degree. A fact that her parents are quite proud of. Even though she wasn’t doing something she really loved she was good at it so she’d had a successful good paying career as a data analyst until trouble between herself and her former boyfriend and co-worker when she got promoted over him, caused both of them to be fired. Even though she wasn’t the one causing the problems and was an excellent worker her former boss refuses to provide her with job references making it difficult for her to land another job in her highly competitive field. So while searching for another job that fits her college degree she decides to start an event planning business. Something she learned at the knee of her mother while growing up. Planning Jeannie Whitley’s birthday party is her first job in her new venture.
As can only happen in a contemporary romance, the minute Natalie and Jake lay eyes on each other in a very cute if equally gross meet cute it’s game on or really game over. Every cell in Natalie’s body is attracted to this devastatingly handsome and annoying man and every cell in Jake’s body is attracted to the incomparably beautiful if infuriating event planner. Because Natalie is employed by Jake’s grandmother and not Jake she doesn’t have to put up with his rude manners and her natural sass allows her to make that fact clear to him almost from the start. Jake is a complete mystery to Natalie. One minute he’s acting like a total ass towards her and the next he’s demonstrating how thoughtful and kind he can be. Jake is absolutely fascinated by this beautiful woman who dares to call him on his shit like no one else in his life, even his siblings dare to do. Of course they fight the shared attraction at the start but it doesn’t take long for Jake’s attraction to Natalie to change his workaholic ways. He starts cutting short his typically sixteen hour work days to find excuses to spend time with Natalie while she plans his grandmother’s birthday party. He’s refreshingly (for a male romance protagonist) open in expressing to Natalie how attracted to her he is and how she’s unexpectedly turning his world upside down. The problem is he’s only planning on remaining in Boston long enough to turn one of his family’s businesses Whitley Advertising around and either find a permanent C.E.O. to run it or sell it so he can get back to New York City to run his own company. Natalie absolutely loves living in Boston and having been to New York City has no interest in living there. And even if Jake decides to remain in Boston, Natalie discovers that she may have to be willing to relocate for find another job in her field as a computer programmer/ data analyst.
I liked Natalie who was kind and caring but also wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself with Jake and with dealing with others to get things done right in her job as an event planner. I liked that Jake when even early on when he was still acting like an asshole would also be kind and thoughtful doing little things to try to take care of Natalie. I liked that beyond the idea that other than the clock ticking on their relationship until Jake returned to New York City or Natalie found a job outside of Boston the story was fairly low angst. Although I thought Jake’s reformation from no personal life workaholic to work takes second place to spending time with Natalie adoring boyfriend happened so quickly it almost gave me whiplash. But it also allowed for the romance and heated sex scenes to begin that much earlier in the story. Natalie’s stalklng ex-boyfriend brought an element of suspense to the story. Pretty good story with highly likeable characters and a decent if predictable plot.
Jake Whitley the second oldest Whitley brother is the workaholic C.E.O of the consulting company he started. His entire time, energy and focus since college graduation has been building his New York City based company into the highly sought after and successful consulting firm it is today some ten plus years later. The driving force behind Jake’s ambition is his desire to build something successful outside of his family’s Whitley Industry conglomerate of companies his brothers all run in Boston because he wants to put as much distance between himself and his father’s legacy as he can. At 21 years old Jake discovered his father was cheating on his mother and had a whole other family including 3 half-brothers he’d been hiding for years. When his affair is discovered his father flees the country for Australia, never to be heard from again. Jake’s mother was so shattered to learn of her husband’s duplicity she spirals into depression and dies of cancer shortly thereafter. Jake is so destroyed by his father’s behavior and its impact on his mother that even the pull of the love he has for his beloved paternal grandparents Jeanie and Abe, and brothers will allow him to live and work in Boston where he was raised. So he’s made his life in New York City with only rare brief trips back to Boston to spend time with his family. Jake may be a brilliant businessman who can help turn around failing companies but he’s gruff and short with people, used to people respecting him and deferring to his wishes. He is always uptight a bit stuffy and pretty much has almost no people skills allowing for his reputation of getting results to speak for him and get away with his gruff behavior. Of course he’s devastatingly handsome with the same natural good looks he shares with his siblings and a body that thanks to regular intense workouts looks like it belongs to a Men’s Health Fitness cover model.
Jake’s soon to be 90 years old Grandmother Jeannie is the matchmaker in this story and series. She wants to see her grandsons happily married and she wants great grandbabies. She wants to throw a birthday party for herself and find a woman for her difficult grandson Jake who is working himself into an early grave in the process. Doing an internet search for an event planner, Jeannie finds Natalie Summers a gorgeous thirty year old’s website. After phone and in person interviews where Jeannie’s questions have more to do with Natalie’s personal life than her party planning resume`, she hires Natalie to plan her birthday party and goes about setting her up with Jake.
Thirty-year-old Natalie is an optimistic happy person by nature but at this point in her life she’s struggling both personally and professionally. Her parents and two older married sisters have all recently moved to Greece for career opportunities leaving her with only her BFF Larissa still in Boston. But Larissa a yoga instructor is planning on a trip to Bali for an unspecified length of time to shoot yoga videos for her YouTube channel. I could be totally wrong but I suspect at some point the beautiful and single Larissa will end up paired with one of the many Whitley brothers. Perhaps Colton the eldest and closest to Jake? Natalie is the only person in her family to earn a college degree. A fact that her parents are quite proud of. Even though she wasn’t doing something she really loved she was good at it so she’d had a successful good paying career as a data analyst until trouble between herself and her former boyfriend and co-worker when she got promoted over him, caused both of them to be fired. Even though she wasn’t the one causing the problems and was an excellent worker her former boss refuses to provide her with job references making it difficult for her to land another job in her highly competitive field. So while searching for another job that fits her college degree she decides to start an event planning business. Something she learned at the knee of her mother while growing up. Planning Jeannie Whitley’s birthday party is her first job in her new venture.
As can only happen in a contemporary romance, the minute Natalie and Jake lay eyes on each other in a very cute if equally gross meet cute it’s game on or really game over. Every cell in Natalie’s body is attracted to this devastatingly handsome and annoying man and every cell in Jake’s body is attracted to the incomparably beautiful if infuriating event planner. Because Natalie is employed by Jake’s grandmother and not Jake she doesn’t have to put up with his rude manners and her natural sass allows her to make that fact clear to him almost from the start. Jake is a complete mystery to Natalie. One minute he’s acting like a total ass towards her and the next he’s demonstrating how thoughtful and kind he can be. Jake is absolutely fascinated by this beautiful woman who dares to call him on his shit like no one else in his life, even his siblings dare to do. Of course they fight the shared attraction at the start but it doesn’t take long for Jake’s attraction to Natalie to change his workaholic ways. He starts cutting short his typically sixteen hour work days to find excuses to spend time with Natalie while she plans his grandmother’s birthday party. He’s refreshingly (for a male romance protagonist) open in expressing to Natalie how attracted to her he is and how she’s unexpectedly turning his world upside down. The problem is he’s only planning on remaining in Boston long enough to turn one of his family’s businesses Whitley Advertising around and either find a permanent C.E.O. to run it or sell it so he can get back to New York City to run his own company. Natalie absolutely loves living in Boston and having been to New York City has no interest in living there. And even if Jake decides to remain in Boston, Natalie discovers that she may have to be willing to relocate for find another job in her field as a computer programmer/ data analyst.
I liked Natalie who was kind and caring but also wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself with Jake and with dealing with others to get things done right in her job as an event planner. I liked that Jake when even early on when he was still acting like an asshole would also be kind and thoughtful doing little things to try to take care of Natalie. I liked that beyond the idea that other than the clock ticking on their relationship until Jake returned to New York City or Natalie found a job outside of Boston the story was fairly low angst. Although I thought Jake’s reformation from no personal life workaholic to work takes second place to spending time with Natalie adoring boyfriend happened so quickly it almost gave me whiplash. But it also allowed for the romance and heated sex scenes to begin that much earlier in the story. Natalie’s stalklng ex-boyfriend brought an element of suspense to the story. Pretty good story with highly likeable characters and a decent if predictable plot.
dnf
November 1, 2022DNF
The way this was written just put me off. It didn't flow, and the way the characters talked to each other was off too.
The way this was written just put me off. It didn't flow, and the way the characters talked to each other was off too.
October 2, 2022
A Layla Hagen novel brings a glimpse of love from ever angle. With humor and heart, Matchmaking the CEO extends an invitation too tempting to dismiss. Natalie and Jake turn a captivating love story into a heartwarming romance that celebrates the beauty of family and the power of romance.
October 24, 2024
J’adore Layla Hagen et depuis le début de l’année je me suis lancée dans la découverte de toutes ses séries. Ayant récemment fini « The Gallaghers » je me suis donc plongée dans « The Whitley Brothers » qui suit la fratrie Whitley. Une fratrie avec une histoire un peu particulière comme on peut le découvrir avec ce premier tome où l’on suit Jake, l’un des aînés de la famille Whitley, et Natalie, une jeune organisatrice d’événements. Au début, les choses ne se passent pas au mieux lors de leur première rencontre. Il faut dire que Jake n’est pas réputé pour être très souriant et avenant… Mais lors d’un week-end où ils n’ont pas d’autres choix que de cohabiter ils vont apprendre à se découvrir et Natalie va pouvoir voir au delà des apparences. L’alchimie se fait très vite ressentir mais les choses sont compliquées car chacun d’eux à une vision bien spécifique de leur futur et ils ne semblent pas converger… D’autant plus que ce n’est pas le moment pour Natalie de voir son monde chamboulé alors qu’elle est déjà en train de prendre un nouveau départ…
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce premier tome.
Jake est assez distant et grumpy au début mais son attachement à sa famille et le fait qu’il soit prêt à tout pour eux le rendent attachant. Surtout quand il va ensuite étendre ses qualités à Natalie. Il est aussi drôle, généreux et protecteur mais à énormément de mal à faire confiance aux autres, ce qui se comprend vu son histoire familiale…
Natalie quand à elle, est assez sassy mais optimiste. Elle ne se laisse pas marcher sur les pieds et n’hésite pas à le remettre à sa place quand il le faut. J’ai juste eu un petit bémol par rapport à sa réaction à certains événements, que je n’ai pas trop compris.
Ils ont une super relation grumpy/ sunshine avec beaucoup d’humour, de tendresse et de respect.
La trame toujours simple et efficace, reprend très bien les codes auxquels nous a habitué Layla Hagen: la famille, l’atmosphère drôle et chaleureuse, une fratrie qui se mêle des affaires des uns et des autres, et des grands-parents qui ne sont pas en reste! J’ai fermé le livre avec un grand sourire et une forte envie de continuer à découvrir cette famille, ce que j’ai fait sans plus attendre en lisant le tome portant sur Cade, dont la chronique sera très prochainement en ligne.
Je recommande vraiment les livres de Layla Hagen si vous cherchez quelque chose de drôle et chaleureux pour vous changer les idées.
https://kingdomofwordsblog.wordpress....
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce premier tome.
Jake est assez distant et grumpy au début mais son attachement à sa famille et le fait qu’il soit prêt à tout pour eux le rendent attachant. Surtout quand il va ensuite étendre ses qualités à Natalie. Il est aussi drôle, généreux et protecteur mais à énormément de mal à faire confiance aux autres, ce qui se comprend vu son histoire familiale…
Natalie quand à elle, est assez sassy mais optimiste. Elle ne se laisse pas marcher sur les pieds et n’hésite pas à le remettre à sa place quand il le faut. J’ai juste eu un petit bémol par rapport à sa réaction à certains événements, que je n’ai pas trop compris.
Ils ont une super relation grumpy/ sunshine avec beaucoup d’humour, de tendresse et de respect.
La trame toujours simple et efficace, reprend très bien les codes auxquels nous a habitué Layla Hagen: la famille, l’atmosphère drôle et chaleureuse, une fratrie qui se mêle des affaires des uns et des autres, et des grands-parents qui ne sont pas en reste! J’ai fermé le livre avec un grand sourire et une forte envie de continuer à découvrir cette famille, ce que j’ai fait sans plus attendre en lisant le tome portant sur Cade, dont la chronique sera très prochainement en ligne.
Je recommande vraiment les livres de Layla Hagen si vous cherchez quelque chose de drôle et chaleureux pour vous changer les idées.
https://kingdomofwordsblog.wordpress....
November 21, 2025
Not a bad book. The whole series is currently free on Audible. The female narrator was a tad annoying. But Jacob was amazing lol Loved the meddling grandparents and will be checking out the rest of the series.
Spice was probably a half of pepper.
Spice was probably a half of pepper.
November 21, 2022
Annoyed with the “heroine”….ugh
Many of the choices that Natalie made in this novel were just asinine, that’s really the only word I can use and remain bedside friendly 😳
I mean I understand independence and being you own person, but it’s just plain idiotic when it comes to being so at a self deprivation and self harming way. Accept the help, that’s actually a greater show of successful independence when you know when to ask and accept it.
Natalie was too nonchalant about too many things for me and made me want to shake her several times.
Many of the choices that Natalie made in this novel were just asinine, that’s really the only word I can use and remain bedside friendly 😳
I mean I understand independence and being you own person, but it’s just plain idiotic when it comes to being so at a self deprivation and self harming way. Accept the help, that’s actually a greater show of successful independence when you know when to ask and accept it.
Natalie was too nonchalant about too many things for me and made me want to shake her several times.
March 19, 2024
Firstly, this is really poorly written. The sentences don't flow together, they're kind of thrown into a lump, and it feels like I'm jumping from one disconnected thought to another. It's more a matter of the mechanics of writing, there is a narrative there, it's just painful to read.
Secondly, the people don't feel real. They do things, they say things, they have internal monologues, but remain two-dimensional.
Well before the midpoint I lost interest in the people and the story, and decided I had better things to read on my Kindle.
Secondly, the people don't feel real. They do things, they say things, they have internal monologues, but remain two-dimensional.
Well before the midpoint I lost interest in the people and the story, and decided I had better things to read on my Kindle.
October 3, 2022
Layla Hagen has done it again! I absolutely LOVED Matchmaking the CEO! I loved every moment on every page of Matchmaking the CEO it was impossible to put down. Layla Hagen definitely did not disappoint her readers with Matchmaking the CEO and has once again delivered an incredible story filled with everything that I love in sizzling romance stories. Who does not love hot sexy men, who make you swoon, strong females, loving families, and friends, who always support one another, and wonderful characters? I loved meeting the Whitley brothers. I love how Layla Hagen always manages to create the "perfect" heroine, who is a strong woman on her own, to balance out the sexy, swoon worthy men. One of my favorite parts of her books is how she incorporates the picture on the cover of the book into the love story. I am not sure how she does it, but Layla Hagen has once again given her readers another amazing book. She has once again proven that she in an amazing storyteller. I really enjoy how she writes her stories in the first person from the perspective of the main characters. I love knowing what the main characters are thinking and feeling. My favorite moments in Matchmaking the CEO are the lighter moments where I found myself smiling and laughing aloud. I also love the parts that pull at my heartstrings and cause me to sigh, as I read the heartbreaking moments Matchmaking the CEO is filled with such moments, and with so much more. Matchmaking the CEO is filled with all those elements that I have come to love and expect in a Layla Hagen love story, especially the poignant and bittersweet moments that filled this page turner. Matchmaking the CEO is the love story of Jake Whitley, CEO of New York Management Consulting and Natalie Summers, an unemployed computer scientist and current event planner. Jake’s grandmother, Jeannie hires Natalie to plan her ninetieth birthday party. Natalie suggests a destination party, Jeannie loves the idea and suggests Jake’s house on Martha’s Vineyard. Natalie and Jake travel to Martha’s Vineyard by private jet. Jake is immediately smitten with Natalie when they meet, but he is grumpy towards her. Their weekend at Martha’s Vineyard is cut short and Jake and Natalie need to return to Boston for a family emergency involving his grandfather, Abe. Natalie soon discovers that Jake has never taken anyone to Martha’s Vineyard. Jake offers to become the interim CEO of Whitley Adverting to reduce some of the stress that Abe is under. Jake only plans to be the CEO until he can turn the company around and hire a new CEO. Meanwhile, Natalie’s ex-boyfriend, Vince who cost Natalie her last job, begins to harass her. Natalie tries to stay away from Jake, because she knows that he is only in Boston temporarily, but things heat up quickly between Natalie and Jake as they spend time together planning Jeannie’s birthday party. Natalie is not able to find a job using her computer science degree and decides to enlarge her job search area. Jake offers to approach his brothers for job opportunities within Whitley Industries, but she declines his offer. Jake’s half-brother, Maddox, who he is estranged from offers Natalie a temporary position and she accepts the position, which annoys Jake. I love Natalie and Jake’s love story, and how a plot twist changes things for Jake and Natalie’s relationship, and with the help of his brothers, Jake proves to Natalie that he wants her to be part of his life. I love the changes that Jake and Natalie make in their lives to have a life with one another. I love how Natalie stands up to her parents and lets them know about her career change that does not align with her college degree. Layla Hagen creates such wonderful and memorable characters and has once again done this in Matchmaking the CEO. I love Natalie and Jake’s story and the descriptions of the Boston and Martha’s Vineyard settings. I love the characters and the family dynamic in Matchmaking the CEO, the characters feel like family and friends. I enjoy all the interactions among the Whitley brothers, it feels like real family love and makes me laugh at their teasing. I loved the bittersweet and poignant moments, as well as the unexpected plot twists, that I have come to love and expect in a Layla Hagen love story. Matchmaking the CEO was a wonderful love story. I love how the epilogue was more than a happily ever after. My favorite part of the story is Jake’s proposal to Natalie, the location of his proposal and the significance of the location. I highly recommend this sizzling romance. I love this new series starter and cannot wait to read more books about the other Whitley brothers. Highly recommend this incredible love story.
October 24, 2022
A Delightfully Wonderful Story & Listen🎧
Matchmaking the CEO
By: Layla Hagen
Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Emma Wilder
Layla Hagen pens another amazing romance novel, and I loved everything about it, from her wonderful writing style to the fabulous characters and storylines she creates to the perfectly cast narrators who bring it all to life, from the pages to your ears. The story drew me right in, grabbing my attention and captivating it straight to the end. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with, they are easy to care about and even fall for. Jason Whitley comes from wealth but he did not want any part of his father’s business, so he started his own and created his own and built his own wealth. To say he is a workaholic would be an understatement, the man lives and breathes work, which leaves him little time to do much of anything else. Thankfully, his grandmother insists on family gatherings and that he takes at least one weekend off a month and while he retreats to his home in Martha’s Vineyard for that weekend, he still winds up taking work home with him. After a nasty breakup and losing her job, Natalie Summers is having a hard time trying to find another job, so she will do some party planning, and was thrilled to land Jeannie Whitley as client and to plan her 90th birthday party. Jeannie thinks her grandson’s home on Martha’s Vineyard would be perfect and that she should go to see it and it just so happens Jake is going there and arranges for her to join him. Jeannie warns her about Jake’s attitude, but Natalie does not let that phase her one bit, she has handled worse. Natalie waits at the airport for Jake to fly on his private plane, the treatment when she arrived was impressive and so was the lounge, but flying on a private plane did not agree with her and not only because of Mr. Jake Whitley the superior grump but because of the motion sickness it caused. Jake does not know what to make of Natalie, she is not like any woman he has met and is immune to his bossy alphatude. This is a beautifully plotted opposites attract, grumpy-sunshine romance, there is plenty of drama, a touch of angst, some witty humor and dialogue, heart-warming moments, heartfelt emotions and a wonderful romance. it is also a great start to what it going to be an amazing series, each Whitley is just as interesting as the other, with Jeannie and Abe, the meddling grandparents pulling some of their strings. Layla Hagen, thank you for another fabulously delightful story and emotional rollercoaster ride.
🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Jacob Morgan and Emma Wilder are talented narrators and versatile voice artists. They had a complete understanding of the characters they portrayed, gave each a voice that suited that character’s persona, sounding believable and just as I pictured the characters to sound. They set the perfect tone for the story, handled the witty banter with ease, without missing a beat. You could hear how much heart they put into their work as they captured all the characters’ emotions and projected them into their performance and had you feeling every single one. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another wonderful listen.
Matchmaking the CEO
By: Layla Hagen
Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Emma Wilder
Layla Hagen pens another amazing romance novel, and I loved everything about it, from her wonderful writing style to the fabulous characters and storylines she creates to the perfectly cast narrators who bring it all to life, from the pages to your ears. The story drew me right in, grabbing my attention and captivating it straight to the end. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with, they are easy to care about and even fall for. Jason Whitley comes from wealth but he did not want any part of his father’s business, so he started his own and created his own and built his own wealth. To say he is a workaholic would be an understatement, the man lives and breathes work, which leaves him little time to do much of anything else. Thankfully, his grandmother insists on family gatherings and that he takes at least one weekend off a month and while he retreats to his home in Martha’s Vineyard for that weekend, he still winds up taking work home with him. After a nasty breakup and losing her job, Natalie Summers is having a hard time trying to find another job, so she will do some party planning, and was thrilled to land Jeannie Whitley as client and to plan her 90th birthday party. Jeannie thinks her grandson’s home on Martha’s Vineyard would be perfect and that she should go to see it and it just so happens Jake is going there and arranges for her to join him. Jeannie warns her about Jake’s attitude, but Natalie does not let that phase her one bit, she has handled worse. Natalie waits at the airport for Jake to fly on his private plane, the treatment when she arrived was impressive and so was the lounge, but flying on a private plane did not agree with her and not only because of Mr. Jake Whitley the superior grump but because of the motion sickness it caused. Jake does not know what to make of Natalie, she is not like any woman he has met and is immune to his bossy alphatude. This is a beautifully plotted opposites attract, grumpy-sunshine romance, there is plenty of drama, a touch of angst, some witty humor and dialogue, heart-warming moments, heartfelt emotions and a wonderful romance. it is also a great start to what it going to be an amazing series, each Whitley is just as interesting as the other, with Jeannie and Abe, the meddling grandparents pulling some of their strings. Layla Hagen, thank you for another fabulously delightful story and emotional rollercoaster ride.
🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Jacob Morgan and Emma Wilder are talented narrators and versatile voice artists. They had a complete understanding of the characters they portrayed, gave each a voice that suited that character’s persona, sounding believable and just as I pictured the characters to sound. They set the perfect tone for the story, handled the witty banter with ease, without missing a beat. You could hear how much heart they put into their work as they captured all the characters’ emotions and projected them into their performance and had you feeling every single one. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another wonderful listen.
February 23, 2023
This was a nice series to stumble on. I thank once again my emails I receive from my authors with not only their updates but also recommendations too. I couldn’t help it, I had to check out this series and start it. This is your typical billionaire romance but different than others I’ve read in the past. I wasn’t sure in the beginning because it moved really slow and I didn’t know how the heroine was going to be introduced which is my only complaint, resulting in a 4. It was a long introduction and lots of questions I had. This became a good way of getting to know The Whitley Brothers and where they all stand when it comes to love and relationships, romantically and with family. Jake I wasn’t sure about at first, I didn’t not like him but more like I was curious about him. He seemed to be the one who showed the most bitterness about his past and what defines him. He had felt disappointed about how his family came together and what transpired from it making him more frustrated and mad at the world that he digs himself into his work and only focuses on that. However, he does make time for family and you see this clearly in the book. The whole family always makes time for each other and jumps at the chance to offer support and help when it’s needed. I loved the ties of this close net family and it’s even more prudent when Natalie enters the picture. I liked her right away, she was sweet, had a good head on her shoulders and also a close family of her own. When she gets hired by Jake’s grandmother you get this feeling that she is pulling the strings towards a goal, but quietly and not obvious. It is especially cryptic with the way she brings Jake and Natalie to each other but makes it appear naturally. I love this about the book, how intuitive they make Jake’s grandmother so it’s like an under the radar set up without the formality of it. With all of the brothers in this story, I have no doubt that will be the underlying theme and I love it. It’s different. It was enough to get me to start following this author because I want to find out what happens with all The Whitley Brothers, as I’m sure they all will get their books eventually. By the late middle part of this book, you get the feeling that there will be no argument between Jake and Natalie. They are with each other and here for the long haul, completely committed. They talk things over and are not afraid to reveal their feelings and thoughts. Plus, the physical connection between them is fire to read, I was literally burning up from it. I can’t wait for the rest of the books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2022
This is the start of a new series and new family for Ms. Hagan. The Whitley’s are going to be fun – they are all boys, brothers and some step brothers – but it’s the grandmother who wants to pair her grandsons off so that she can get some great-grandbabies going! I loved her! All these smart, uber successful men in her life, including her own husband, and she has them all wrapped around her finger!
This is a light, fun and delightful story that is easy to read with wonderful characters, great family dynamics and a fun and flirty feel. It is the story of Jake and Natalie. They meet because Jake’s grandmother hires Natalie to plan her 90th birthday party at Jake’s Martha’s Vineyard getaway home. One of my favorite parts of the story is Jake and Natalie’s meet cute. During the plane ride from Boston to Martha’s Vineyard, Natalie gets airsick and pukes ALL over the place on the small private plane – right in front of Jake! Then she has to HOLD those airsick bags until they de-plane! Yikes! Even though Jake wants nothing to do with her and even less to do with her being on the plane with him, his heart goes out to her and her ‘whiffs of puke’ on her breath and clothes! Lol!
These characters are both strong and determined and while different, seem to bring out the best in one another. There is a strong attraction on both their parts but too many issues in the way. They are both at an unsettled place in their lives and trying to work through it. She is not attracted to his bossiness and won’t cower to his demands. That fact makes her even more attractive to him and while he doesn’t want to like her, he is seriously drawn to her sunshine-y personality. Natalie upsets Jake’s very structured world because he wants to see and be around her more. He is very open with her which surprises him because he isn’t that way with most others.
When their relationship begins they both believe that it will have a shelf life and go into things planning to enjoy their time together but not believing that anything permanent will come. They are free with their thoughts, words and time. They really are well matched and you just find yourself rooting for them every step of the way. Their genuine friendship and sparks for each other have them wishing and then pushing for something more.
I loved the family dynamics between the brothers and then looping in the step brothers that Jake doesn’t care for very much. The scenes with all the guys together are so real, believable and fun! This grandmother is going to have her hands full finding mates for all of them but by the end of this book you have absolutely no doubt that she can do it! Ms. Hagan write families really well and this one will be no exception, I can already tell. I can’t wait to see who granny has up next and how she does it!
This is a light, fun and delightful story that is easy to read with wonderful characters, great family dynamics and a fun and flirty feel. It is the story of Jake and Natalie. They meet because Jake’s grandmother hires Natalie to plan her 90th birthday party at Jake’s Martha’s Vineyard getaway home. One of my favorite parts of the story is Jake and Natalie’s meet cute. During the plane ride from Boston to Martha’s Vineyard, Natalie gets airsick and pukes ALL over the place on the small private plane – right in front of Jake! Then she has to HOLD those airsick bags until they de-plane! Yikes! Even though Jake wants nothing to do with her and even less to do with her being on the plane with him, his heart goes out to her and her ‘whiffs of puke’ on her breath and clothes! Lol!
These characters are both strong and determined and while different, seem to bring out the best in one another. There is a strong attraction on both their parts but too many issues in the way. They are both at an unsettled place in their lives and trying to work through it. She is not attracted to his bossiness and won’t cower to his demands. That fact makes her even more attractive to him and while he doesn’t want to like her, he is seriously drawn to her sunshine-y personality. Natalie upsets Jake’s very structured world because he wants to see and be around her more. He is very open with her which surprises him because he isn’t that way with most others.
When their relationship begins they both believe that it will have a shelf life and go into things planning to enjoy their time together but not believing that anything permanent will come. They are free with their thoughts, words and time. They really are well matched and you just find yourself rooting for them every step of the way. Their genuine friendship and sparks for each other have them wishing and then pushing for something more.
I loved the family dynamics between the brothers and then looping in the step brothers that Jake doesn’t care for very much. The scenes with all the guys together are so real, believable and fun! This grandmother is going to have her hands full finding mates for all of them but by the end of this book you have absolutely no doubt that she can do it! Ms. Hagan write families really well and this one will be no exception, I can already tell. I can’t wait to see who granny has up next and how she does it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews