I was provided an ARC of this book via the author and Smartypants Romance, all opinions are my own.
This was hilarious, while also being sweet and heartbreaking at times! This reads as a standalone but it has interconnected characters, and if you want the full comedic impact of Chad and to understand some of the stuff he's talking about, I'd start at the beginning. There are a lot of references to things from the previous books, but they aren't really necessary to follow along with Val and Larinda's story. If you find yourself saying "what in the world?" I'd start back at the beginning and you will understand what is going on. Despite this being Val and Larinda's book, I feel like this was Chad's book too.
This follows Larinda, a successful country music start who wants to take control of her music. She's found a young, new producer who sees her vision and doesn't try to walk all over her or shut her down when she has a suggestion like the rest of her team. Val is an unknown in the music industry, but he's got talent and Larinda wants him around. As Larinda's tour progresses, it becomes clear that there is chemistry between the starlet and the producer, however her team has clearly stated that she can't date her producer. Larinda has been "dating" her co-headliner Jarvis for years but she's had enough of his nonsense, but their record labels have other plans in mind.
Val quickly finds himself stuck between his own desires and protecting Larinda from some plot he can't figure out. Aided by none other than Chad from Sandeke Telecom, who becomes his new bestie and spy mentor, Val learns that her career is in danger and he will do anything for her. She is his ray of sunshine in a crappy existence, and she has been put in a terrible situation. Larinda is a people pleaser and has a hard time telling people no, she often gets taken advantage of. She gets some great advice from Val's sister about being the confident woman she is both on an off the stage which I really loved. I think we all walk a fine line between our professional self and our personal self, Larinda needed a little reminder that her two selves needed to be a little more alike.
Overall, I loved this! This has a great romance between two great characters, some great comedic moments, and some good emotional moments that will pull on your heartstrings.
“Aly Stiles delivers the perfect romantic comedy with Look Smart. I found myself laughing throughout and wondering what the secondary characters would do next. The connection between Nate & Nat filled my heart with pure joy and was immediately rooting for their HEA.” -Author Andrea Johnston
Look Smart, an all-new star-crossed lovers workplace romantic comedy from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!
Nate Hanover’s future was set. The perfect girlfriend, the perfect career… He’s the perfect man with the perfect life—until he lost it all this summer. Now he’s not sure about anything, except that no one can know the truth lurking behind his “perfect” facade. Especially not at this week’s high-stakes corporate circus known as Tele-Con.
Natalie McAllister has no time for games. After working nonstop since… ever, she’s one win away from the dream promotion she’s been chasing for years. All she has to do is land the Sandeke Telecom account at this week’s telecom conference and life will be perfect.
But when a chance encounter leads these strangers to an incredible night of intimate soul-searching, “perfect” might look different than they thought. With so much on the line, it’s a good thing they’ll never see each other again. Well, not until the following morning when they learn they’re competing for the same account, their firms despise each other, and a nut-obsessed enigma named Chad Smith is the key to their success. Oh, plus their forbidden connection is still fully charged and more off-limits than ever.
What could go wrong when the perfect night explodes into the perfect storm?
‘Look Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #6 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
He grins, and I push the button for the eighth floor.
“What floor?” I ask him.
“Eight,” he says, his eyes flashing with humor.
Oh.
Damn.
“We’re not in the same room, are we? Because that would be awkward,” I say.
“I’m thinking we’d probably know that by now.”
“True. You look like a guy who uses a lot of closet space.”
He raises his brows, and I shrug.
“Do I? What do those guys look like?”
“I don’t know… Put together?”
I thought that answer would be safe, but maybe not when he frowns. With another tight smile, he faces the door. Guess we’re back to watching numbers do literally the only thing numbers can do.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Say something, Nat. You’re about to part ways forever.
“You could come check out my closet if you want.”
Not that!!
He fires what I count as his fifth confused look of the encounter, and I offer a conciliatory cringe.
“Sorry. That was not what it sounded like.”
“What did it sound like?”
The elevator dings, and the door opens. Floor eight. Thank the heavens.
I step out with relief, then remember it’s time for him to step out too.
Should have followed the wheat crystal debate up the stairs.
“Oh, uh. Well, I guess it sounded like I was inviting you back for sex.”
What?!
He just about chokes on air, and I OMG myself for that one.
“I wasn’t,” I rush out. “That’s my point. I was just… making conversation.”
He hesitates, and I squirm beneath his curious gaze. He doesn’t look upset, though. Or offended. Or even embarrassed. He looks… intrigued. By me? Most people aren’t a fan of my no-nonsense approach to, well, everything. And when I’m drinking? All filters are off.
“I see. So in this ‘making conversation scenario,’ how would a person respond to a question like that?” he asks.
“Like what?”
“Like an invitation for sex that isn’t.”
I bite back a smile and shrug.
“However that person would want to respond, I suppose.”
“Is it a nice closet?” he asks.
“Probably the same as yours.”
“A little presumptuous, no? What if I have a suite? My closet would be very different.”
“Okay, but now you’re being presumptuous. What if I also have a suite?”
“Do you?”
“No. Do you?”
“No.”
That breathtaking grin slips out, and suddenly I’m not sure I was just making conversation. My gaze drops to a dark button-down shirt stretched over a body that has seen plenty of action in a gym. His rolled-up sleeves reveal several tattoos that clash beautifully with the business-casual attire. Gosh, is there also a modeling convention going on at the resort? He could be the hot stock-photo dude in all those “Look how cool it is to work here!” photos on the Careers page of every company website.
My door looms ahead, which ushers in corresponding disappointment. Even worse, Cautious Brain is now berating me through the margarita mist.
You can’t take a stranger back to your hotel room! This is the opening scene of every true crime show ever. You want your polaroid thumbtacked to a wall with a red string wrapped around it?!
Wait. Who uses the red string again? Is that a serial killer thing or more of a spy-conspiracy-theory thing? Do they still use polaroids for crime-solving? That seems inefficient.
“This is me,” I lie, stopping at a random room.
Smart, Nat. Good work.
“Yeah?” he asks.
He leans against the wall on the other side of the door to face me. Brown eyes scan me with amusement and something else. Something that triggers all kinds of tiny bubbles in my stomach. Yep, I’m now a walking champagne flute. Fantastic. Why did he have to be smart and funny in addition to being achingly beautiful? Ugh. What an unfair combination in a stranger you can’t have.
Well, shouldn’t have. Because, I shouldn’t, right?
Right. Because what you do have is a big day tomorrow.
The biggest.
“So, um, have a great night,” I say.
He doesn’t budge, and I start to panic. What if he is a creepy stalker? Aren’t the worst ones charming and attractive? Or maybe he’s considerate on top of everything else and is waiting for me to get safely into my room before going to his?
Or…
I mean…
He’s not… actually interested in staying?
Not safe! Not safe!
Maybe, but I’m not getting a creepy vibe from him. I watched him with his friends all night and nothing about his demeanor screamed FUTURE THUMBTACKED POLAROID.
“Okay, well, I won’t keep you,” he says, straightening from the wall.
The disappointment is real when he pulls a keycard from his pocket, but it’s for the best. I’ve spent months preparing for this conference. It’s bad enough I had one too many drinks tonight. The last thing I need is an even bigger mistake.
No! It’s not! Come on. Break one simple rule. Just a small dose of “wild.” You don’t even risk the occasional rolling stop at a stop sign.
It’s true. Stop means stop. But fine.
“Wait. Would you maybe want to see my closet after all?” I blurt out. “Not for sex. Just to hang out. Maybe a drink or two?”
The corner of his perfect mouth tips up in a smirk. “You want to hang out in your closet?”
“Sure. It might be a tight fit, but if we move the luggage stand, we could make it work.”
His smile grows—and wow. Maybe I’m actually nailing this hookup thing.
“Sure. Why not?” he says. “It’s been a while since I’ve spent time in a closet. My room or yours?”
He studies the door beside us that is very much not my door.
“Yours,” I say.
He nods and slides his keycard into the slot.
Oh no.
“It’s so weird that they put us in the same room, isn’t it?” he says.
About Aly Stiles
From angsty and dark to snort-laugh funny, Aly writes romance from her soul to yours.
I received an ARC via the author and Smartypants Romance, all opinions are my own.
This book features characters mentioned in other books in the same universe, but it reads as a complete standalone. If you want to get to know Marcos and Eva you will want to read Street Smart, and if you want to know more about Kaitlyn and Abram you will want to read Elements of Chemistry series and Laws of Physics series respectively. Again this reads as a 100% standalone, but if you want to read about the other characters I like to mention where you can find them.
This follows Nash, a musician at heart who ends up as an intern at a media company. He has no interest in a corporate job, but he needs the money and his roommate hooked him up with the job. Paige was built for this internship, she wants nothing more than to make her mark in the corporate world. She immediately judges Nash because he doesn't look the part of an MBA and future CEO. When they get their first intern project, Nash's music skills are put to good use and Paige is left wondering what other skills he is hiding. He challenges her at every step and it makes her furious. Paige pushes Nash's buttons in a completely different way, once she realizes that he's not the person she expected, she tries to understand why he's hiding his talents. Nash's story is heartbreaking, but he's got a great support networks. Paige and Nash may be opposites, but sometimes that makes for the best story. I loved them together!
This was great! It has a great balance of serious and funny moments. This is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster so be prepared. It has some heavy moments, but it also has some laugh out loud ones as well. If you read Street Smart, you know who Chad is and he is back and he add a nice comic relief to the story. This has some great side characters to help move the story along. I loved that we get to see some characters that we've met before in supporting roles as well as new characters that we will hopefully see more of. I thought Paige and Nash had great chemistry and equally good character development. Neither character turned out to be what they seemed from the beginning. They both have to play parts to protect themselves. The ending to this was perfect! I also love when authors put song lyrics in books when there is a musician, it lets us see a different side of the author. The lyrics were awesome!
"Street Smart is a laugh-out-loud, hand-over-heart swoon fest that will have you cheering for the good guy to get it all in the end. One of my favorite reads of the year!" -Bestselling Author Ginger Scott
Street Smart, an all-new workplace romantic comedy from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!
What could go wrong—four words MBA student Marcos Oliveira ignored when he accepted a prestigious internship at Reedweather Media, a subsidiary of the legendary Sandeke Telecom empire.
What did go wrong? Everything.
And when Marcos stumbles upon incriminating documents that signal corporate espionage against Sandeke’s son Martin, he suspects his strange intern wormhole has just exploded into chaos. When his alluring boss Eva draws him in to thwart the plot, he knows it.
After spending their lives overcoming adversity, can Marcos and Eva handle this latest threat? Even more perilous might be their losing battle against forbidden attraction.
His Ivy League education didn’t prepare him for spy games and illicit flames. Good thing he has the street smarts to work for it.
'Street Smart' is a full-length workplace romantic comedy and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
We straighten in alarm at the click of the lock on the main door. Crap! On instinct, I yank his shirt to pull him to the far end of the closet-like room and shove him behind one of the giant racks. Here’s to hoping whoever this person is doesn’t need to access whatever this thing is.
The clatter of the door closing, followed by the squeak of sneakers on the floor tell us someone entered, but we can’t see them through the wall of computer junk obstructing our view. This also means they can’t see us, so yay for that.
Initially, adrenaline keeps my attention fixed on the action at the other side of the room. Soon, though, hormones interrupt our regularly scheduled caper to parade neon signs of awareness that I’m pressed tightly against Marcos Oliveira. Yes, my brilliant, urgent spy maneuver was to crush him into the wall. To press my body against his in an invisible cocoon of stealth. Except this cocoon is suddenly hot. And hard. And electrified with the current of a thousand server racks. It’s inhabited by a sun god who stares down at me with blistering, intelligent eyes and full, tempting lips. Those lips spread into a smile—nay—a challenge, when they catch me gawking. An I-dare-you-not-to-touch-me-right-now message. His hard chest joins the taunt, molding solid muscle to my soft curves. His hips, gah, I can’t decline that invitation. It’s not my fault. They just—react, aligning with his of their own accord. And when his chest swells with a labored inhale at the friction, a shudder runs through me. My hands don’t know what to do either, and soon they’re exploring belt loops at his lower back. Fingers coil around fabric, hooking in until they have no choice but to pull our hips into a firmer embrace. His eyes clench shut, his breathing rapid like mine. His heart—I can feel the raging pulse, or maybe that’s mine. Where does he end and I begin right now? We’re not ourselves. We’ve melded into that new entity—that throbbing, scorching cocoon. My lips burn with a hunger to explore his neck. I grip the belt loops tighter, needing to breathe soon so I don’t lose control of a gasp and give us away.
Somehow, I manage to break one hand away, but it gets sidetracked on the return journey. Instead of safety, it seeks his chest, palm opening wide for a full, greedy experience as it slides from his waist, up solid, mouth-watering planes. My touch absorbs his heat as it travels, tingling from the contrast of the soft fabric of his shirt and the hard angles of muscle beneath. I take extra time exploring his pecs, sinking in and enjoying the way his breathing changes as I rake his skin with my nails. My hand should stop when it reaches his collar, but it doesn’t. No, it keeps moving, skimming over his neck and curving behind until my fingers tangle in his hair. My thumb glides over light stubble, locking below his jaw and angling his perfect face right where I want it. Where I need it as I lick my lips and stare at his mouth. My genius stripper intern who couldn’t be more accessible and forbidden in this moment.
“No freaking way,” a voice echoes through the room.
Marcos and I snap our gazes toward the sound. Neither of us move as we wait, our breaths coming heavy from fear now, in addition to desire. Gosh, this is pretty much the most addicting sensation I’ve ever experienced. No wonder James Bond is a thing.
About Aly Stiles
From angsty and dark to snort-laugh funny, Aly writes romance from her soul to yours.
I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fun rom-com with a bit of office espionage.
When Marcos finds himself selected for a prestigious internship program at a subsidiary of the famed Sandeke Telecom (yes the same Sandeke's from Elements of Chemistry from the Pennyverse), he finds himself caught up in a world he never expected to be a part of. Marcos has worked his way up from the foster care system through somewhat unconventional means to earn an Ivy League degree and this internship. He doesn't fit in with those from affluent backgrounds who throw around money and drop names of senators and famous people. Marcos is instantly drawn to his boss Eva who happens to be the CEO's daughter, so when she "accidentally" sends him some suspicious files that may indicate corporate espionage on the part of Denver Sandeke against his son Martin's new startup venture, Marcos isn't sure what to do. He and Eva decide that they are going to take on the man and have some fun doing it.
There were some really funny moments in this. Chad the other intern was hilarious, his final presentation was amazing! The HR lady was also pretty funny, you might think she was overly ridiculous and offensive but I can tell you from personal experience in the corporate world, this kind of stuff actually happens. It doesn't excuse her behavior, but it does shine a light on the fact that this kind of dumb stuff really does happen to people and it shouldn't. I loved that Marcos and Eva's relationship while a bit insta-lovey was also based on respect and their attraction to each other's intelligence. Eva was a bit dumbstruck at times by her attraction to Marcos which made her act a bit silly, but I think that is something we can all relate to. I also appreciated that Marcos stuck to his guns and was willing to sacrifice money and position for his values.
I'm looking forward to checking out more from this author as this is my first book from Aly Stiles. this is a great addition to the Smartypants lineup. View all my reviews
“A sweet little romantic comedy that will keep you turning pages until the end. Aly Stiles crafted a novel with the perfect blend of witty, charming and sexy fun! Already at the top of my list for 2021.” - Bestselling Author Jayne Frost
Street Smart, an all-new workplace romantic comedy from Aly Stiles, is LIVE EARLY on AppleBooks, Nook, Kobo, and GooglePlay!
What could go wrong—four words MBA student Marcos Oliveira ignored when he accepted a prestigious internship at Reedweather Media, a subsidiary of the legendary Sandeke Telecom empire.
What did go wrong? Everything.
And when Marcos stumbles upon incriminating documents that signal corporate espionage against Sandeke’s son Martin, he suspects his strange intern wormhole has just exploded into chaos. When his alluring boss Eva draws him in to thwart the plot, he knows it.
After spending their lives overcoming adversity, can Marcos and Eva handle this latest threat? Even more perilous might be their losing battle against forbidden attraction.
His Ivy League education didn’t prepare him for spy games and illicit flames. Good thing he has the street smarts to work for it.
'Street Smart' is a full-length workplace romantic comedy and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Stage Smart by Aly Stiles
