I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Catastrophe Queen by Emma Hart Published by Amazon Digital on January 29, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 195
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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One hot mess. One hot boss. One too many hot encounters...
It’s not you. It’s me.
No, seriously. It is me. Not only does my name literally mean “unfortunate,” but that’s the story of my life.Everything I touch turns to crap. An apartment fire—that I swear I was not responsible for—means I’m living back at home with my sex-mad parents. Yay, me!
Which is why I need my new job as personal assistant to Cameron Reid to get back on my feet. Three months in this job and I can move back out and, hopefully, remember to turn off my flat iron once in a while.
Ahem.
On paper, my job is easy. Make coffee. Book appointments. Keep everything in order.
Until I walk in on my boss, half-naked, wearing nothing but the kind of tiny white towel that dreams are made of.
Now, nothing is easy—except our mutual attraction. But he’s my boss, and you know what they say about mixing work and pleasure: unless you do porn, it’s just not worth it. .
One thing that drives me nuts is something I call Bella Sawn Syndrome, (though Stephenie Meyer was hardly the first offender), where we’re told over and over that heroine (it’s always the heroine, never the hero) is just so, so clumsy, but never once see them trip, or spill, or fall, or drop anything. That is not the case here. Mallory is super-clumsy. Some of it is her own fault – staring at her phone and walking into the street, for example, and some of it is just standard clumsiness, but this poor girl has trouble getting through a day without some sort of minor catastrophe.
Fortunately for her, Cameron Reed, the man who almost ran her over when she walked into the street, and who, it turns out, is also her new boss, seems to be charmed by her clumsiness and take it in stride, even when she’s spilling coffee on paperwork or nearly being killed by his car. In fact, Cameron seems to take most things in stride, and isn’t too bothered by most things.
Mallory’s clumsiness was tempered by the fact that she’s also smart, really funny, and seems to have her shit together as much as it’s possible to have when you’re 25 years old and forced to move back into your parents house because of an apartment fire that was definitely, totally, absolutely (you’re almost sure) not your fault. She was let go from her previous job right around the same time, so she’s grateful to have the option to move back home, where her parents charge her minimal rent so she can save as much money as possible in order to move back out. And if that minimal rent comes with the need to announce her presence as much as possible so she can stop walking in on her parents having sex all over the house, then who is she to complain?
We got some fun interaction with her parents, and her grandfather and great aunt, who come to celebrate a birthday and apparently never leave. Her Aunt Grace, in particular, is a fun character who was old enough to give zero fucks.
Overall, I thought this was a cute, quick read. There were some problems that I hope will be worked out with beta readers or another round of edits before the book is actually released. Nothing that wrecked the book, but a few things that definitely made me stop reading and say “Wait, what?” a few times. (“Breaks” instead of “brakes” for those things that stop your car, some timeline issues, etc). I was also… Concerned is too strong a word, but there was nothing in this book to indicate that either Mallory or Cameron was worried about the fact that he’s her boss. It wasn’t as big an issue as a CEO of a corporation deciding to get into a relationship with an assistant, though This was a small, family-owned real estate company, but Mallory was still Cameron’s PA, and that can get sticky. It didn’t need to be an actual obstacle to them getting together, but I was surprised that it wasn’t even addressed.
There also isn’t a lot of sex in this book, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find it here. There’s only one scene, and it doesn’t happen until 94% of the way through the book. It’s good, just not plentiful. But if you’re looking for a smart, funny romantic comedy, Catastrophe Queen by Emma Hart will tick all of your boxes.
About Emma Hart
By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling sexy romance author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies – usually wine – and writes books.
Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her readers at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and addictive, all-consuming love that will keep you up all night.
She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life. This has recently expanded to including vacuuming, a tedious job made much more exciting by the voices in her head. Naturally, it also takes twice as long to complete.
