Dominic was staring at me like he couldn’t decide whether to chop me into pieces or pull my hair and French kiss me.
Dominic
I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job… in my office… after being hired by my mother.
So maybe her colorful, annoying, … colorful, annoying, inexplicably alluring personality brightens up the magazine’s offices that have felt like a prison for the past year. Maybe I like that she argues with me in front of the editorial staff. And maybe my after-hours fantasies are haunted by those brown eyes and that sharp tongue.
But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be the next Russo man to take advantage of his position. I might be a second-generation asshole, but I am not my father.
She’s working herself to death at half a dozen dead-end jobs for some secret reason she doesn’t feel like sharing with me. And I’m going to fix it all. Don’t accuse me of caring. She’s nothing more than a puzzle to be solved. If I can get her to quit, I can finally peel away all those layers. Then I can go back to salvaging the family name and forget all about the dancing, beer-slinging brunette.
Ally
Ha. Hold my beer, Grumpy Grump Face.
Author’s Note: A steamy, swoony workplace romantic comedy with a grumpy boss hero determined to save the day and a plucky heroine who is starting to wonder if there might actually be a beating heart just beneath her boss’s sexy vests.
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Enemies to Lovers isn’t my favorite, but this was a fun read. It was a bit of a slow burn, and by slow burn I mean Dominic Russo kept saying he didn’t want anything to do with Ally Morales, when we all knew he really did. The Hate to Love You back and forth was enjoyable to read, fun and sassy. The fact that each person had important things that they were keeping from each other that they should have just told each other is an overused plot device that I see way too often, and it’s the main theme of the first 2/3 of this book. Fortunately, Lucy knows how to take a cliche and make it something unexpected, and Dominic was able to email his way back into Ally’s heart, so that she – and we – forgive him. I’ll always read a book by Lucy Score, she’s one of my faves.
A delicious hot boss/office romance with enemies-to-lovers.
When Ally gets into an argument with Dominic in a pizza parlor and spells out ‘FU’ on his pizza he has her fired. Bummed at losing one of her 4 jobs, Ally decides to take his mother’s offer for a job at the fashion magazine ‘Label’ where Dom also works. Confident he cannot fire her Ally doesn’t hold back when sparring with Dominic and sparks start to fly between them.
I loved this book and kept on reading. The smoldering chemistry between those two, sigh! I ate it all up. No book is perfect of course, but I totally enjoyed this book and thus the 5 stars. At the end you can click the link for an epilogue. I would wish it was just in the book as I like my books complete, but it was swoony and sweet. (2020)
Absolutely loved it. Top notch writing, lovable characters, funny as heck
and off the charts levels of steamy scenes. 5+ stars for By a Thread.
You’ve seen in other reviews, but it holds so much truth. Just when you think Lucy Score can’t top her last book, she does, and not by a little bit, by a lot! Dom and Ally are an older couple we really needed to read about. Yes there’s some immuturities in it, but don’t we all have our own immature moments in life? This book has it all, Enemies to lovers, workplace romance, and two feisty characters that have you rooting for them from the beginning. If you don’t put this book down several times from laughing hysterically, I’m going to think there’s something wrong with you. Tears poured out of my eyes (from laughing) the imagination of Lucy Score has zero bounds and I’m here for all of it!
It’s been awhile since a book left me with such a hangover. From start to finish, I absolutely loved By A Thread. It is literally laugh-out-loud funny, has amazing banter, and is hella hot. A bit of a slow burn – but truly a BURN. The main characters’ chemistry and sexual tension is on a low steady boil right from the start. If you love hate-to-love romances with a grumpy-ass hero… This. Is. It.
***
My only neg is that while the characters are 39 and 44, it definitely read more like a new adult/20-something novel to me. Not big enough deal to me to lose a star, but an observation.
The few chapters were a little rocky for me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to hang but once I hit about chapter 8, I was hooked!! It was such a good and funny book!!! I absolutely loved it!!!!
What a great read – a fabulous escape during these times we find ourselves enduring! Love Ally and Dominic!! Really loved that the characters were older. LOVED IT!
Buckle up buttercup for a ride with this book. Expect to laugh out loud, shed a few tears, get angry on behalf of some characters, have your heartstrings pulled, swoon, and most of all fall in love with so many characters in this book. You also need to settle in. It is a long one, but the story moves along at a good pace. You will be wondering where the time went.
This isn’t just an enemies to lovers book…it’s an enemies to frenemies to friends (sort of) to lovers story with many bumps along the way. The chemistry and the push and pull between these characters leaps off the page. The banter and snarkiness is hilarious, smart, and entertaining. You can’t wait to see what they will say and do next. The steaminess is hot with this one too. You know it’s good when there is serious sizzle when the characters aren’t even touching each other.
If I haven’t sold you on the book yet then let me talk about Dominic. He is one of the grumpiest heroes I have ever read…and he is wonderful and glorious. He is one of my favorite grumpy characters ever. Not only that but there are so many layers to him. It was a true delight peeling back the layers of grumpiness to find what was inside, and trust me it’s even better! Ally is the perfect self-proclaimed Pollyanna to him. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows with her. Somehow she keeps that optimism through grit, determination, and tenacity. There is depth to both of these characters that is a true joy to discover.
There are some topics addressed in this book that are very relevant to society today and family issues many face. Kudos to the author on how she incorporated the issues into the story in a very real and believable way. As with any book by this author, the secondary characters are just as intriguing and captivating as the main characters.
This is a complete standalone, and it is not connected to any other book or series. All of these characters are new and a joy to learn about. Whether you’ve never read this author or you are a long time fan, you definitely need this book. It’s one of those that will stick with you for a while in the best possible way.
Fantastic read! I laughed, cried, hurt and cheered for the characters. Great ending!
Loved this book!
Loved this book!!
2.5 s
I love a grumpy male with a heart of gold and I adore their growth when they figure out what’s been in front of them all along. I also have a soft spot for a woman who’s strong and determined on achieving her best, either independently or as a couple. I appreciated that the MC’s were slightly older than most romance novels, that I was looking forward to. So I’m not quite sure as to why this one did not work for me. It could be that these attributes were overstated constantly or that the story dragged on far longer than need be. Other little things of factual inaccuracies added to my lack of enthusiasm with this book. I know I’m probably in the minority and this authors followers have another opinion, but for me it fell flat and missed the mark.
It did start out well, the initial meeting between Dominic and Ally was funny and their banter was good. I admired his mother for her actions in rectifying her sons mistake. And from here on out, it lost me. What in one book could be stalking issues, this one it was considered ok under the visor of he was falling for her. I also hate lazy plot planning like not accepting money from a trusted friend but doing something against your moral code or go hungry so you can get by. It was an easy solution, borrow the money, sell the house, pay back the money. But this too was dragged out and became monotonous and repetitive to prove a point that she was independent and strong. In my opinion, she wasn’t smart. I also have a gripe with weak reasons why a couple can not be together and split up then reconcile quickly. I’m hoping this is just a one off from this author, and I’ll try again with other book.
I will admit that I got a few giggles out of this book. I did feel formAlly having to deal with her father’s decline into dementia. Other than that, I don’t have many other good points to offer. I forced myself to finish this book. I don’t have many DNF’s, and I was unwilling to add this one to the list, although I came close 3 or 4 times.
The banter between Dominic and Ally started out ok. It provides the occasional snort. Their ridiculousness proceeded to go on entirely to long. Then I discovered Dominic and Ally’s ages, 44 and 39 respectively.
These were not mid to late 20yo’s, or even early 30’s. These were grown flippin’ adults. They were behaving like college students, and I might be generous in making them seem that old. I was tired of Ally’s pride and her reluctance to ask for or accept help. The whole situation with working at Faith’s was dumb, especially when Ally had other options. I was tired of Dominic’s daddy issues. I was tired of the whole damn book.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, the book was way too long. I thought it was never going to end. I wanted to give up @29%, 36%, 48%. When I realized I wasn’t at 50%, I wanted to throw my Kindle. When I realized I was in chapter 63 and there were still TEN more to go, I was devasted. But, I pushed on until the bitter end.
The characters in this book are entertaining, and also realistic in their struggles with life events and romantic feelings. I laughed and cried in different parts of the novel.
I liked this book in the beginning but it should have been like 200 pages shorter.
“By a Thread had me laughing out loud. It was a cute and hot enemies-to-lovers trop. It was funny and easy to read with a guaranteed happily ever after.
Dominic… was so intriguing and complex. First I kind of disliked him because let’s be honest he was seriously the most annoying person when he met Ally! Plus the annoying boss! I admired her for tolerating such intense man. Anyway right after that first encounter we got a different side of him… sort of!
I had an issue with their attitude and their ages. I loved that they were older but were they truly that age? They had some attitudes that were childish and so not congruent with their supposedly age so them acting like being in their 20’s wasn’t so good. I do liked it but it was somehow annoying reading them acting like that when by their age they could have experienced differently.
Dominic’s mom was amazing! His mom rocks! Sorry but it was imposible for me to go without saying it. Faith and Christian… I loved them with all my heart. The perfect secondary characters.
Charming and Maleficent’s story was good!”
Good writing, good stpry.
I have to admit, I mostly enjoyed this book and the dialog and interaction between Dominic and Ally was snarky and funny. The book did hold my attention even though I rarely read romance books unless there is some paranormal side story (or main story). The fashion industry setting was interesting also. I have to say though, that once – just once! I’d like to read a romance where, if one of the main characters, guy (or gal) is a total jerk, that’s it! No forgiving just because he/she is ‘hot’ and rich. Sigh. Guess I need to learn forgiveness, but it would be a fun read!
5 stars . Still having problems with ratings being saved…very inconsistent. This was a great book.