[ARC Review] Say Yes to the Boss by Olivia Hayle

Release date: 10/8/21 Format: eARC eARC provided by: Social Butterfly PR

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Cecilia was counting down the days until she could quit her job at Exciteur Consulting, working as an assistant for the grouchy, unappreciative Victor St. Clair. He didn’t think she’d last a year, and she was going to prove him wrong. But with less than a week until she could hand in her resignation, Victor offers an alternative: marry him for a year. The arrangement would allow him to claim his inheritance from his grandfather, and it would give Cecilia the time she needs to work on her start-up. It was a no-strings-attached arrangement that would benefit them both. But then these two people who previously couldn’t stand each other started seeing the real person below the surface, and suddenly their fake relationship became very real. Say Yes to the Boss is a fake dating/enemies-to-lovers romance, and part of Olivia Hayle’s New York Billionaires series. While characters from previous books make appearances in Say Yes to the Boss, readers definitely do not have to read the previous books to love Cecilia and Victor’s story. 

I really enjoyed the tension and slow burn of Victor and Cecilia’s romance. I thought Hayle handled the hurdle of an office romance well by removing Cecilia from the equation before it could become an issue. The slow progression of their luke-warm, stand-offish behavior towards each other in the office into a blazing inferno of passion at home was exquisite. I lived for the moment when Cecilia and Victor both gave into their desires and made their relationship real. I also loved how complex Hayle made both main characters; neither Victor nor Cecilia were the way they ended up without reason. Hayle was able to incorporate a full, emotion-driven backstory for both Cecilia and Victor in fewer pages than other romances need, all without compromising Victor or Cecilia’s journey going forward. The passion between the newlyweds was definitely well done (I will never think of vases on hallway tables the same ever again), but more than the action between them, I loved that Hayle gave the controlling megalomaniac a softer, newly-discovered side that only a true love with Cecilia could bring out. If I could change anything about Say Yes to the Boss, it would be the length and the ending: the length because I wish it was longer so we could get more action between Cecilia and Victor after they realize the fake relationship isn’t so fake, and the ending because Hayle uses a plot point at the end that I personally don’t care for and think is overdone in romance. However, I still very much enjoyed the whole story from start to finish, and there are so many tropes in this book that I would recommend this to a wide range of romance readers. I loved Victor and Cecilia’s journey and can’t wait to dive into the next book from Olivia Hayle. 

Thank you to Social Butterfly PR for sending me an advanced copy of Say Yes to the Boss for review!