This could have been 4stars if maybe 1 or 2 frantic, just one more time, sex scenes were replaced with a conversation. I think these 2 talk in depth once. A few times their insta-attraction bang it out sex was cringy with risk of getting caught (twice in the office, twice in the house with the kids upstairs). I get that they could not keep their hands off each other, and that is hot for 2 characters that came out of crap relationships, but man can you go out on a date? Take a drive? Take the kids out together so you’re forced to talk vs. bang it out with your clothes still on? They both keep talking about how they have so much to lose but never say ‘hey, let’s wait 3 months till the NDA I signed is expired with my ex’. That said, if you want sex in every chapter, this is for you.

Also, Charlie is an idiot with how he ‘handles’ Janessa’s job/project. I could see why she is pissed at him. I don’t think he does enough to make it right in the end. Another reviewer noted that these 2 seem pretty immature and I think that’s accurate. Despite both being married before they seem inexperienced in relationships, but maybe that’s on purpose. Charlie hasn’t dated in 10 years and Janessa was married to a cheating jackass for 10 years.


Note - this town is very white. The heroine, Janessa, is Hispanic/Latinix. The hero initially compares her to Jennifer Lopez. Janessa seems embarrassed that her parents work for Charlie, and he briefly realizes that while he considers them part of his family he’s never included them in anything socially with his extended family though Janessa is immediately invited to his mother’s house. I was glad to see a non-white character in this series, but it felt a little ... clunky or inserted.