Review: Arrogant Boss

Arrogant Boss by Olivia Hayle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, Olivia Hayle's "Arrogant Boss" was a cute, sweet, and fun story. I found it to be a light, enjoyable read, perfect for summertime at the beach or pool.

I'm generally a fan of office romances, but based on previous books I've read, it seems that when the hero is also the heroine's boss, it can sometimes be difficult not to cross the line from romantic behavior into what seems to me like a form of sexual harassment. Fortunately, Ms. Hayle successfully avoids that here, and Julian's pursuit of Emily did not come across to me as aggressive or threatening in any way. I liked that Julian was respectful of Emily's wish to keep their relationship private (even though it did frustrate him at times), and that he continually made it clear that her job was not in any danger if she chose not to go out with him.

Julian and Emily were both likeable main characters, but I thought they could have been better developed. I would have liked to know more about Emily, in particular. Obviously there was more to the story with her parents' deaths, which really weren't discussed at all other than in passing mentions here and there. For example, why did Emily become Turner's guardian at such a young age, especially when their grandparents were still alive? Also, Julian's relationship with his late father and stepmother wasn't really fleshed out, and I think if it had been, it would have provided a lot of context for his current interactions with his younger brother, Ryan.

Finally, I have to note that this book could really use another review by a good editor. There are a lot of typos (especially missing punctuation), words are out of order or missing entirely, verb tenses are mismatched (present and past used interchangeably in the same sentence/paragraph), as well as other problems present that could be fixed relatively easily by the right editor. Despite that, I'd recommend this book and would be willing to read others by Ms. Hayle in the future. The typos and other errors were certainly annoying, but not so bad that I wasn't able to enjoy the story.

*Free review copy provided by the author via BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

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