Welcome back everyone, after a few reviews for books in a series we’re back to a standalone contemporary romance set in London.
One of they key differences between this book and many other romances I read is that the woman is the one in a position of power in the relationship. Not only is it Sam that instigates a conversation with Ryan initially. She’s the one that sets out how their relationship plays out after that.
Throughout the book we read how Ryan is feeling, and it’s strangely insecure. Being a girl, I don’t know if many guys feel like this in relationships, but it was great to have such a strong male lead who was also so in touch with his emotions and what he wants from a relationship. While also being honest with himself about how he truly feels rather than trying to hide behind walls.
In many ways I respect what Sam has achieved and sympathise with what she’s had to go through thanks to Damien. Yet I also think she was a little silly to get involved with someone she worked with. Something my dad always told me growing up was to never get involved with someone I worked with because society always makes the woman out to be worse off.
At the same time, if you’re falling for someone that hard why should you have to deny your heart?
And then my logical business brain switches on being like “aren’t there laws against this in England?” coz I know there are here in Australia. Even for small businesses like Sam’s.
The way Kathryn wrote about both Ryan and Sam’s emotional turmoil and their insecurities kept me enraptured the whole way through. I kept wondering when they’d finally talk openly and honestly, what would happen after they’d done that? Would Ryan keep working for Sam? If he did, how would their relationship end up?
Rather than trying to sort through that minefield I think Kathryn did the right thing for the story and left it on a high. But also open for the reader to decide how they want their love story to play out. Does it end up a fully open office romance? Does it go down in flames? Is it a fairy-tale ending?
Who knows? You get to pick what you want!
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, on Friday I’ll be reviewing Jennifer Macaire’s final Alexander book, The Eternal Banquet. Continue to read further down to find out about the author.
Author Bio
A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.
With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.
8 Replies to “The New Guy – Kathryn Freeman”
Just wanted to thank you so much for taking part in The New Guy blog tour, and for your lovely review 🙂
Thank you! I had a great time reading it 😊
I just said this on your last review, but this is definitely another book I need to check out. And I love that we’re getting so many illustrated covers for romance books.
I know right! I’m reading so many covers illustrated these days. They are so cute!
This books sounds really great and I’m really excited to read it!
Let me know how you find it 🙂
OMG IKR? I think about “Aren’t there laws against this?” all the time! There are some books that address this conflict and some that don’t. For example, where I live, there are some companies that aren’t okay with it and some that are fine with it, even promote it by giving extra benefits like insurance and stuff to married couples.
I agree with the statement about being lost on a male’s perspective in love and I’m generally wary about books with switching POVs, because the hero’s voice (presuming the author is female) doesn’t seem to fit the personality we see when we’re in the heroine’s perspective. I’m glad to hear that the author portrayed a hero very much in touch with his emotions, we do need to see more of those!
I read a lot of romances with switching POVs. Mostly I find they are done quite well. I think about the law stuff so much. I literally have a book that I just started reading and I got like halfway through the first chapter and was like “surely this can’t be legal?! Surely she can sue for this behaviour based on discrimination or something. I do think we need more guys in touch with their emotions, but at the same time if guys aren’t reading those books I don’t know what impact that can have to help them open up.