The competition is stiff. The stakes are high. Is the risk worth the reward for a broken ice queen and a tall, dark and handsome musician who cares more about friends and music than cutthroat office tension? Find out in book 1 of the Anti-Belle Series! Celeste and Ben were thrust into a fierce competition for the web design position each of them desperately needed. Rivalry they can handle, but … the chemistry between them is another story. As the heat and the pressure turn up, Celeste must decide: can she risk another heartbreak, or will she lose everything but keep her paycheck? Find out in the first volume of the Nashville based Anti-Belle series.
“And Ben…oh my goodness Ben…add him to my favorite book boyfriends of all time. Not only is he a killer web designer, but he’s also a musician/songwriter. YES, PLEASE.” – Amazon Review
“The chemistry between the main characters made it impossible to put down. I was willing a HEA all the way through (no spoilers). I immediately downloaded the author’s next book.” – Amazon Review
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An intense, emotional, sexy read:
Ben and Celeste were pitted against each other by their boss as they vied for the coveted web designer position. Celeste had been hurt badly both professionally and personally and had subsequently closed herself off from love and life. Ben meanwhile was more laid back but he also had his layers but I liked how patient and understanding he was. I enjoyed seeing these two give in to the temptation of one another however they had a rough go of it with the added pressure of their work situation hanging over their heads.
Overall there was a good mix of wit, humour, drama and steamy encounters. There were enough side characters to make things interesting and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book deserves more than 5 stars! It was phenomenally written. I feel like I went through this whole journey with Celeste. I’m so sad that she hurt Ben. He is the perfect book boyfriend. He is sweet, caring, sexy, breath taking, has muscles, can sing, and is mouthwatering! I am claiming Ben as mine. The whole book takes you through so many emotions. I’m not a crier but my eyes watered throughout the book. Well done Sky McDonald. I loved this book.
I was very pleasantly impressed with the free copy of this book that I was given by the author through Goodreads for an honest review. I have read a LOT of romance novels and this particular trope is one of my favorites- the main characters are adversaries and despite much conflict and angst (I love angst), they are strongly attracted and eventually act on it.
In this case, both Celeste and Ben have been badly burned by past relationships and are hesitant to trust again, especially Celeste. To make matters worse they are competing for the same job.
Both of them had issues but Celeste’s were harder to overcome. I don’t want to give anything away but towards the end of the book I was on pins and needles waiting to see what would happen. To me this is the sign of a good book. The writing was excellent, the introduction of Ben’s friends a perfect note. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to the next book, Nick’s story.
I stumbled onto this debut recently and have to say that it charmed my socks off. Set against the backdrop of the music-loving Nashville culture, the hero and heroine duke it out as they are pitted against each other for a sought-after job. Watching Ben & Celeste come together and connect in spite of their competitive nature was such a treat. This was a highly enjoyable read, steaming hot and a fantastic debut!
I loved it! It was wonderful.
I really enjoyed Skye McDonald’s “Not Suitable for Work” and absolutely recommend it. The writing is very mature, especially for a debut novel, and I found it to be very easy to read. I’ve always loved both the enemies-to-lovers and workplace romance tropes, and this novel manages to capture both of those themes superbly.
I adored both main characters, especially Celeste, and found them both to be well-developed and incredibly likeable. It was easy to empathize with Celeste’s emotional journey following the events that caused her to leave NYC and move back home to Nashville. Ben was amazingly supportive of Celeste despite their competition for the job at Tenn Star, as well as the fact that he was recovering from a tough break-up of his own. Both Ben and Celeste deserved to be treated better by their partners than they had been in the past, and I couldn’t help but cheer them on to their HEA.
This story also featured great secondary characters, especially Nick, James, Sarah, and Liv. I could easily see any one of them being featured in future stories. In addition, the relationship between Celeste and her parents was super cute. I loved how supportive they were of her, and how nicely they welcomed Ben into the fold.
Overall, “Not Suitable for Work” is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Ms. McDonald in the future.
*ARC provided by the author via Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.
While this is Skye McDonald’s debut release, it manages to have all the stellar craft abilities of a much more seasoned author and is an absolute delight to read. Granted I am mildly biased as I find Ms. McDonald to not simply be a brilliant writer, but also an amazing human. I am four-leaf-clover-at-the-end-of-a-rainbow level lucky to have my readerly world enhanced by knowing such fabulous authors.
You’ll thank me for introducing you to Ms. McDonald and her work. Guaranteed. I’ll take a dozen soft chocolate chip cookies when you feel the need to repay me for this recommendation.
Not Suitable for Work features a tough as nails leading lady Celeste Greene, but here’s the thing. Celeste isn’t bordering on bitchy for no good reason. No, see, our girl here has just gone through a break-up. A bad one. Not one of the ones that is fixed with a girl’s night out of heavy drinking or even a week long cruise laced with liberal amounts of debauchery. Unfortunately the break-up Celeste had to deal with was life changing. The kind that takes your heart, shatters it, and scattered the pieces in the wind as well as pulling the financial rug out from under her feet. Life threw curveballs at Celeste from 10 different directions at a speed that left her unable to duck.
Instead she left the New York City life she loved and moved back to her home in Nashville. And the first job she wound up landing an interview for? Yeah, that was curveball #11 when she was informed she wouldn’t just be hired because there was one other candidate that was just as qualified as her and their boss simply couldn’t decide. No, folks, she had to win the job that was her chance at rebuilding her life. Basically no big deal.
Enter our DARLING Benjamin. Oh. My. Gosh. THIS MAN IS EVERYTHING. Sorry, I’ll calm down as much as I can, but when it comes to discussions of Benjamin Addison, I get a little excited. Not only is the man sexy as hell, he has a charming personality that manages to hide the skeletons he has in his own closet. See, Benjamin… got taken by a pretty face before and now needs this job just as much as Celeste. And even though he is exceptionally attracted to his counterpart, he can’t let that take his focus off the prize.
Or can he?
Yeah, see, here’s the thing folks, Ms. McDonald builds the sexual tension between our love interests to epic proportions and when they finally get their shot… heaven help me. Their smexy times are out of this world!
If that isn’t enough you need to know that this is only book one in a multi-book series that will give you all the book boyfriends you didn’t know you needed. Go one click today to get your start with the Anti-Belle Series.
Not Suitable for Work by Skye McDonald is a rivals to lovers contemporary romance.
This is Skye’s debut novel that will be released on September 24th 2019.
I cannot wait until she releases book two in the Anti-Belle Series. She did an amazing job pulling you into the story. You can’t help but fall in love Ben and Celeste.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves office romances, rivals to lovers, or contemporary romance.
This was my first book by Skye and I really enjoyed it. The characters are complicated but trying to find their way. The story is interesting and with some terrific supporting characters. The steam is well written and adds to the story. The ending was fabulous but just missing that epilogue that lets you see into the future
An internship becomes a competition when there is only one position up for grabs. Celeste and Ben become enemies when there is only one job on the line between the two of them. Celeste is an ice queen because of her past but Ben sees more than that behind her walls and is determined to bring it to the surface.
I have to say that I LOVED Ben!! His character was amazing. I loved how he was with Celeste, his friends, even her family. He was ready to be everything she needed, but she was too broken emotionally and needed time. The ending of this book made me love him even more!
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a good read. Celeste came off as a pill at the beginning of the book but she slowly started to win me over. There were so many times I wanted to smack her though. Ben is such a sweetheart. She shouldn’t have treated him that way.
Warning this book contains some serious hotness!
I love the push and pull between the characters. The playful banter which often led to some heat and swoon worthy moments. I loved the chemistry between Celeste and Ben! Sizzling! I think my new book boyfriend is Ben! The pacing of the story is good. The author has created some great characters.
A highly entertaining read! It’s engaging and will heat up your night, leaving you wanting more. This is my first Skye McDonald book and it won’t be my last! I give this 5 stars.
Ben was amazing. Celeste was tough still was not a total witch. They are both after the same position. The interaction was wonderful. Ben and Celeste together was amazing and the interaction was amazing. I loved this story and the whole premise behind it. It is not all rosey we have and ex who is just a pain. I totally loved this book, and cannot wait for more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I love Ben and Celestes story, its withy, romantic, funny and steamy. The competition between them along with their sexual attraction makes the story. I loved it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Another great book with amazing characters. Before I go any further this story was perfect, but I did find it hard to connect with Ben and Celeste. Which is my fault, I tend to connect better with all characters when I start from the beginning of a series. The books in this series are all standalones, but I find that I connect with each of the characters better when I start from the beginning. You meet each of the characters that will have their own stories play out and even see older characters in other books. However, after reading both book two and three, I was very intrigued on how the two meet and was happy that I had a book to dive into that is about them.
Ben and Celeste were both hired for a temporary position that would eventually turn into a full time position. However, neither knew that they would be competing for their job. Celeste wants to hate Ben for perfectly good reasons. One because of her previous relationship; her ex broke her. He made her feel like she was nothing and she was starting to feel that way. She didn’t feel like she was worthy of Ben; that the person he was experiencing wasn’t the real Celeste and it was only a matter of time that he would see the real “ice queen.” We learn how her last relationship shaped the person that she is and her feelings of having something more with Ben. Ben sees so much more to Celeste than what she sees and is doing his best to help her see it.
I loved how this story shows us that we are who we want to be. That others think of us should not shape our perception of ourselves.
I’m in love with love, I can’t help it. Romance is my favorite world to get lost in. When I come across a new romance, I have this thing where I shove the book into one of two categories:
The first one is the romance book with a half-naked man sprawled across the cover under the tag line:
She was his…
The story’s always about some rich, arrogant man who either owns a multi-billion dollar company or is a hit man/mob boss/cocaine king. He shuns love…and shirts, apparently. Your heroine is always poor, always taking care of a sick relative or trying to save an animal sanctuary, while working five jobs and still managing to look like a model. Her daddy is probably a hit man or a mob boss that’s done the rich guy wrong. She’s going to pay for daddy’s mistakes or maybe she’ll have to undo the emotional abuse the rich guy suffered at the hands of the narcissistic society woman who came before her. Throw in an unexpected pregnancy, a kid or two, or a fake fiancé and you have yourself a typical romance novel.
The one that you skim through just to get to the sex, which is always some sort of D/s vibe that comes across as funny when it was never meant to make you laugh. And then you feel bad for laughing. After you’re finally done, you’re disgusted at the time you wasted, toss the book aside and become embittered by the romance genre as a whole.
The second romance novel doesn’t have a half-naked man sprawled across the cover. Its clean and pretty, which always catches your eye quicker than the stereotypical half-naked men and cliched tag lines. He’s not some rich asshole and she’s not some skinny model. The sex is never perfect, it’s relatable and messy, which makes it perfect. You’re not focused on money, or mob bosses, or animals, you’re focused on them.
The couple.
You stand by as they walk around one another, trying to decide how best to approach, or to run. Their growing lust makes you squirm, and you end up having to put down the book to take care of business. This is the kind of book that entraps you, refusing to let you leave until you’ve devoured every single word. And when you come to the end, your heart breaks because you’re not ready to let them go. This is the story that reminds you why you love romance in the first place.
As judgy as I am with the romance genre, I didn’t know what to expect from Skye McDonald. But since I’ve been stalking her on social media for a while, when Not Suitable for Work came out, I bought a copy, especially after seeing her pretty cover. I was curious to see which kind of story she’d give me. Would she bore me to tears or would she turn me into a life-long stalker?
Now, I will be honest with you, I had planned on adding NSFW to my massive TBR pile…however…I made the mistake of opening Skye’s book.
I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Ben and Celeste but see, their story reminded me of myself when I was young. I was just like Celeste; hardened, bitter and cold. I understood her even if when she made me cringe with my own memories. And Ben…well, he came into Celeste’s life and saw through her bullshit.
He saw her.
Isn’t that what we all want? Just for someone to see us? To…get us? Ben got Celeste, he fought her demons just to stay by her side. Even when she tried to destroy him for daring to fight in the first place.
Skye gave me the kind of book I crave, and I’ve become a life-long stalker. And now, I’m impatiently awaiting December 10th, when the second book in the Anti-Belle series, Off The Record, debuts. With Ben and Celeste still with me, I’m hungry for the pain of Nick and Mel’s story…
“You know what I like about you, Ms. Greene?”
“What?”
“I’m not sure,” he murmured, but his soft, thoughtful tone made it sound very far from an insult.
Well well well, if it isn’t my soft side I’ve been trying to ignore…
No need to deny that I have a thing for enemies to friends to lovers… I am obsessed with them. Add, great chemistry, career woman and a soft man… bam, you got me!
My mood throughout the book was: I am an independent woman who doesn’t need a man, bUT god do I want a boyfriend so bad right now…
Firstly, Thanks a ton to Skye McDonald for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Can I start by saying what a beautiful name Celeste is? Celeste Green has had a streak of bad luck in New York and finds herself in her hometown trying to get her life back on track. Of course, it’s not that easy. Things rarely are.
“I’m the ice queen. I don’t care about anything but my job. I’m selfish and cold.”
Well, theeen she meets Ben.
“Don’t be so nice tome.”
“Okay. I’ll bully you in the morning.”
You will fall for Ben. It’s the law.
He is funny, smart, supportive, he sings and cooks and caring and will call you on your nonsense.
If I change one thing, I would try to make the affair more compelling. The drawback in the relationship felt forced to me. While understanding Celeste’s problem, I still didn’t find it challenging enough. There was no “no affair in the workplace” rule. All they had was supportive parents, lovely coworkers, a bunch of friends who root for them. So all “i wish there was another choice but this is trouble” speeches seemed kind of off.
There is an option.
You can just, you know,
be together.
In the end, I rate books according to how much they have made me feel. I laughed, giggled, and was mostly giddy throughout the whole book.
++gUYS I didn’t talk about the hot stuff but,, goddamn It came to a point where Ben would touch Celeste’s arm and I would gasp dhgfd This books left me with a dumb smile on my face <3
**EXCELLENT DEBUT ROMANCE**
All I can say about this book is…. WOW!!!! McDonald uses her glorious writing ability to create characters that are so real, so relatable, so desireable the reader can’t help but become entangled in the drama! Celeste is the feisty go getter I love to root for in a story and Ben is the heart throb hottie that makes me go soft in the middle. The chemistry between them explodes across the pages splattering all the feels directly in your heart.
I could completely identify with Celeste as she tries to recover from a relationship bombshell. Cheated on by her man (and blamed for HIS transgression) she struggles with forming emotional ties. But Ben wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t afraid to go for what he wants. Even with her shattered shell, Celeste may be a tough nut to crack. Their bantering dialogue and steamy intimate scenes had me laughing and daydreaming plenty!
If you like contemporary romance, this is the book for you. The way McDonald uses the setting as a character is brilliant! Having been to many of the places mentioned in the book was an added bonus when it came to picturing the scene for me. But even if you have never been to Nashville, Tennessee, her descriptions are spot on. You’ll soon be shopping for your first pair of boots and a cowboy hat!
Well worth the read. I can’t wait for the next installment with the other characters!
This book…OMG this book! Okay, so I’m a romance junkie, and I can be super picky about what I like and let me tell you, Not Suitable For Work blew me away! I am a sucker for office romances between rivals and/or enemies, and that’s exactly what Celeste and Ben are. The tension hits from the moment they meet and it’s full throttle from then on.
I adored Celeste and felt for her immediately. Here she was this young professional reeling from a devastating work experience and a monumental heartbreak (sidebar: I hated her ex, he was SUCH a douche-canoe, Skye did an amazing job writing the perfect d-bag ex, bravo!), then thrown into a misleading work situation. I was rooting for her from the first page. It was like I could feel exactly what she was going through–her thoughts, her struggles, that spark of attraction she felt with Ben right off the bat. Skye did an incredible job writing a female main character who you can relate to.
And Ben…oh my goodness Ben…add him to my favorite book boyfriends of all time. Not only is he a killer web designer, but he’s also a musician/songwriter. That’s some panty-dropping appeal right there. Plus, he’s tall, super good-looking, with an excellent body and passionate. YES, PLEASE.
The two of them are essentially competing for a full-time position at a Nashville company, and the shenanigans they get up to during work hours–and after hours–had me both laughing and holding my breath because I was SO captivated by the storyline. I won’t give anything away, but this book has it all: witty banter, tension you can cut with a knife, steamy scenes, and an emotional story arc that will leave you breathless. Oh and there’s a stellar Halloween scene. Just wait until you read it…it’s crazy good 😉
The author seriously knows how to write relatable characters who you root for and relate to. Cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series. And I have to say, I ADORE the Anti-Belle name! So clever! So happy to see an author like Skye breaking into the romance world!