Excerpt + Review: "Boss Man Bridegroom" by Meghan Quinn

Today, I am thrilled to be participating in the blog tour celebrating the release of Meghan Quinn's latest novel, "Boss Man Bridegroom." It is a follow up to Quinn's earlier novels "The Secret to Dating Your Best Friend's Sister" and "Diary of a Bad Boy," but felt like a complete standalone to me. I enjoyed meeting the couples from the previous books here, however, so I plan to go back and read them as soon as I have some time.

I've wanted to check out one of Meghan Quinn's books for quite a while now because I've heard so many good things about her writing, and I am so glad I finally had the chance with "Boss Man Bridegroom." It is one of the best rom-coms I've come across in recent memory. The banter between main characters Rath and Charlee was phenomenal and made me laugh over and over again. There was a well-crafted emotional side to the story as well, with Charlee and Rath's attraction and feelings for each other slowly growing until they just couldn't be contained any longer. Overall, I absolutely adored this book and highly recommend it for both new and existing readers of Quinn's work.

About "Boss Man Bridegroom"

"Will you do me the greatest honor of all time and be my bridegroom?” she asks, hope in her eyes...

How did I get here? My assistant, bent on one knee, holding my hand, her expectant face waiting for an answer.

Just . . . how?

How did I go from being insulted by Charlee Cox to hiring her to be my assistant? How is it that she’s chaos in color - making me crazy and my life better at the same time?

I never thought I would be staring down at her bright blue eyes begging me to go along with this ridiculous scheme I suggested.

Yes, I suggested. Like the idiot I am, I thought hey, why not start an HR nightmare and have my assistant ask me to marry her?

Confused? Don’t worry, so am I.

But try to follow along, because this is how I became Boss Man Bridegroom.

Read an Excerpt from "Boss Man Bridegroom"

**RATH**

"Rath Westin, my boss, my commander in chief, my Gucci Governor—"

"I don’t wear Gucci."

"Go with it." She winks and clears her throat. "Mr. Big Shot, Barking Britches, and Irritable Ira—"

"Jesus . . . Christ." I rub my hand down my face.

"Will you do me the great honor . . ." She wobbles on her bent knee and clutches my hand to steady herself. "Will you . . ." She tears up, her voice becoming shaky. "I’m sorry, I’ve never done this before."

"I sure as hell hope not," I say through gritted teeth.

"And I didn’t think I’d get emotional either." On a deep breath, she finishes, "Will you do me the greatest honor of all time and be my bridegroom?"

Christ, nothing is ever simple with her.

"Why did you say it like that?"

"Did I not do it right?" she mumbles to herself. "See, I knew I was doing something wrong."

"No, why did you say bridegroom?"

"Oh, well, that’s what you would be. You see, that’s what they used to call men who were soon to be married . . . a bridegroom. But then somewhere along the way they shortened it to groom. But if you marry me, I would give you the dignified pleasure of retaining the honorable title of bridegroom."

"Don’t call me bridegroom."

"Boss man bridegroom?" she asks with a cheeky grin.

How the fuck did I allow myself to get in this position? With my quirky and sometimes annoying but mostly efficient assistant, kneeling in front of me . . . proposing.

Proposing to me.

In a pair of belly-covering slacks and suspenders, hair pulled back into a tight bun like she often wears it, looking up at me through her red-framed glasses, her bright blue eyes shining past the lenses, begging me to go along with this ridiculous scheme I suggested.

Yes, me.

Like the goddamn idiot I am, I thought hey, why not start an HR nightmare and have my assistant ask me to marry her?

Confused?

Don’t worry, so am I.

Where do I even start? Maybe from the beginning?

Here is a quick rundown: my ex, who used to work with me, left me for bigger and better things. We don’t talk about her, ever, because she took my heart with her. Instead, I buried myself in my work. I became a hermit in my office, firing one assistant after another because they weren’t good enough or their voice annoyed me, or they thought salt was sugar and gave me one bad cup of coffee that ended their career at Westin Enterprises—that mistake was on them.

In my spare time—not that there’s much—but when I do have spare time, I follow my two idiot friends around the city, helping them avoid fucking up their lives. But now that they’re both in loving and committed relationships, one planning a wedding with my sister as the bride, I have much more time on my hands.

Maybe they’re to blame for my demise, for this ridiculous charade I’m now a part of.

What does this have to do with my assistant proposing to me?

Well, you see, I was in the market for yet another new assistant, and that’s when one of my best friends, Bram, suggested I lean on his assistant, Linus, to help me find someone. Side note: Linus is a gift from God, and I’ve offered him huge pay raises many times to jump ship and join my company, but his loyalty lies with Bram . . . unfortunately.

So Linus helped me find an assistant, and that’s where it started to go downhill.

The minute I saw her, I knew it wasn’t going to be a good fit.

Why?

Because she’s too goddamn beautiful.

Because she’s far too bubbly.

Because with every smile and checklist she devises, she makes me want to bend her over my desk and make her mine.

But, since I clearly don’t know how to make any decisions worth a shit, I hired her, right there on the spot.

And that was the beginning of the end.

Need to know more? Well in case you are on pins and needles about my answer to her proposal, I said yes.

Here’s the story of how I became Boss Man Bridegroom.

My Review

I did not expect it based on the book's title and description, but "Boss Man Bridegroom" by Meghan Quinn turned out to be a fantastic slow burn romance. The attraction between main characters Charlee and Rath slowly built but didn't reach a tipping point until nearly two-thirds of the way through the book. Both were reluctant to get romantically involved because of past hurts and the fact that they worked together, but eventually their feelings boiled over and couldn't be contained any longer.

I really appreciated that Rath never used his position as CEO to pressure Charlee for more than she was willing to give. They always seemed to act like equals despite the differences in their job descriptions. In addition, I loved Charlee and Rath's banter, especially the way they tested each other's limits and the funny nicknames Charlee gave Rath.

I found Charlee to be a very likeable and relatable main character. She seemed like someone I could be friends with in real life, mostly based on her love of historical romance novels and office supplies.  She wasn't perfect, but she was a perfect match for Rath, and that's really all that matters. Rath's bromance with Bram was also a lot of fun, and reminded me very much of the relationship between JD and Turk on "Scrubs." My favorite part was when the guys started their own romance novel book club so that they could discuss their favorites. (Poor Charlee probably had no idea what a monster she was about to create when she convinced Rath to read that first historical romance!)

Overall, I loved "Boss Man Bridegroom" and will definitely be reading more of Meghan Quinn's books in the future.

*ARC provided by the author via Candi Kane PR.  All opinions expressed are my own.