Emma is fighting for her dream job … she has no idea she could win her dream man.In a competition for the position of a lifetime, Emma knows she can’t beat her office enemy on skill alone. After Arnie sabotaged her first day, the boss has avoided her like the plague. Everyone loves Arnie, even though he’s the most annoying, lazy, hot, jerk she’s ever had the misfortune to work with. And dream … to work with. And dream about.
Arnie thinks only one thing when he looks at Emma–more. But with his self-imposed exile in London almost complete, he should be packing to return to the family business in Italy. His days working alongside his secret crush are numbered.
Forced to collaborate, Emma resists the chemistry between her and Arnie. If she gets too close, she may as well hand him the promotion, yet turning her back on the boss’s favourite will destroy her chances. And leave her unemployed.
Only one of them wants to win. Both are risking more than their careers.
This standalone contemporary romance takes in the sights of London and the stunning Italian countryside. If you like Christina Lauren, RS Grey, and Sally Thorne, you’ll adore this humorous, chemistry-loaded novel.
Buy this sparkling and steamy love story now.more
This was a super fun, witty read that I had trouble putting down. I loved the banter between Arni and Emma. Workplace romances can sometimes fall flat for me, but this one felt so real. The characters and the situations were written flawlessly and from the very first page, I found myself completely engrossed in their world. To me, this was such a sweet, wonderful love story. The kind that makes you smile and feel so good that you hate for it to end. Jolie Vines has fast become a one-click author for me! Make sure you scoop this book up! a MUST READ!
This was a fun story and kept me reading. Emma’s past was never far away and the hurt kept her from reaching for true happiness. I loved how she accepted that her first impressions were wrong when it came to Arnie. She distrusted herself but began to believe what she saw and felt. Their connection got him to take a longer look at himself and fix his own situation. I loved his wacky family and how both families came together for the love of family. I recommend this story.
I received a copy of this story as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.
I just finished this fantastic book and I’m sitting here, 2 in the morning, with the most ridiculous smile on my face. Every time I crack open a book by Jolie Vines, I’m lost. Her books aren’t the books you read and go “Well that was sweet” or “That had a great plot”. Her books are the kind of books that come to life…. Words and people jumping off the pages and straight into your heart. I love the characters and I feel what they are feeling. Whenever I finish one of her books I just feel content, satisfied. She never disappoints. Jolie Vines is an absolute force to be reckoned with and I am beyond honored to be apart of her ARC team. Arnie is EVERYTHING. He’s the type of man that every single woman fears exists only on paper.
This is a must read. This isn’t a book you read to pass time. It’s a book you read to feel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Race You by Jolie Vines is the story of Emma and Arnie.
Emma and Arnie have been working together for about 6 months but now they have been put on a project where they will be working very closely together.
Emma feels that Arnie doesn’t like her and they have a on going banner between the two. Arnie actually likes Emma a lot and enjoys their banner but he is actually leaving the country soon. But when they are put in this close working environment they start to let go of what they have been resisting.
Cute easy romance…loved it!!
Emma’s uphill climb through office politics gets hijacked by her new man
July 12, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
Wow! Office politics and romance, all set against some great settings in London and Italy, with twists, coincidences, and jerk moves by some truly obnoxious villains. This romance has everything, including a smart and driven heroine, some serious ogling at the office, sizzling between the sheets, sympathetic siblings, parents who have been underestimated and a wizened old Italian guardian of heroine Emma’s virtue! And for romance readers who love to be pulled into the world of the super wealthy and privileged, this story (complete with a luxury Knightsbridge apartment, an Italian villa and an Edwardian castle) will not disappoint.
I love author Jolie Vines’ Marry the Scot series which has a bit more action and suspense mixed into the romance. This story is very different in tone but no less gripping. I was sorry to hit the conclusion — a definite sign that this novel deserves high marks in my book.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
This was so much more then an office romance. Yes Arnie and Emma are competing for a spot but it’s more for Emma. This is her dream job that a jerk took away from her! Her and Arnie aren’t exactly friends. He seems to rub her the wrong despite the dreams she’s having about him. Here’s why I say it’s more… Arnie isn’t who he seems to be. Yes he’s a sweet guy with a helpful heart but he put down his dream since it almost lost him family. He decided to take a path that he wasn’t crazy about but it was planned. His sister and brother are doing the same but it’s time to do what they want and not what their parents want from them. You can see how close they are as siblings. They support each other and respect their wishes. This ties to Emma as well. She and her brother have a close bond but not so much with her parents. They show their excitement for her brother instead. Anyway back to Emma and Arnie, despite not liking other at first. the more they spend together excites them into a relationship. They seem they are more alike then they thought. They mature a lot in this book. They do what they want to do and not let other dictate it. I though this was a great book with characters you truly want to hang out with! I loved every minute of it!
Overall Rating: 1/2
What does it mean to love yourself, to be true to yourself, to really know yourself? These are some big questions coming from Jolie Vines’s newest book, Race You. She has touted it as an enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance. These are simple categories to explain a text with a greater depth of discovery.
Race You follows Arnie and Emma, two workers at odds with each other. Emma is straight-laced, follows the rules of the company, and is industrious sometimes to a fault. Arnie is Emma’s anti-thesis: he’s seemingly laidback, gets along with most people, and he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously. Or so it seems. From the outset of their working relationship, Emma feels Arnie sets her up poorly with their boss. This places them at odds…at least from her point of view. Arnie’s perspective is very different: he is entranced with Emma. Each day, he finds a way to provoke her because he loves any attention from her, as he slowly falls in love with her.
A project arises in their workplace, and Emma is keen on doing well as she is looking for a promotion. Arnie ensures that they are placed on the same team, as he wants her time and energy. Feeling as though he might sabotage her, she tries to protect herself from him, only to realize that he adores her, much to her surprise. Very quickly, these two grow strong feelings for each other. Unfortunately, the actions of Arnie’s past and his subsequent future plans threaten his potential with Emma, and Emma struggles with the aftermath of her ex-boyfriend’s emotional terrorism. Will these two overcome their past issues to find a future together? Will they learn to love themselves past their former traumas? This is the crux of Vines’s story.
“We kissed one another like it was all we could do, like London had run out of oxygen and our mouths were made of air. This was so much better than fighting.”
Jolie Vines is an author who is relatively new to me. I found her through reading an ARC from her Marry the Scots series, and I realized quickly that I like her heroes. If you spend any time in my blog or Facebook group (Professor Romance), you realize quickly that I am an equal opportunity romance reader. There isn’t much I won’t read: most tropes, dark romance, clean romance, etc. Since my real “bread and butter” tends to be angsty, alpha-level male romances, I oftentimes forget about the types of heroes that I find in Jolie Vines’s stories: the men who simply adore the female heroine of their tale. This is, in my opinion, what makes Vines’s books so delicious to read. And this is the case with Race You.
For me, Arnie is THE “everything” in this book. In the beginning, he’s seemingly too laid back, as we are given Emma’s point of view. She views him through her over-achieving, rule-driven filter. Everything seems to come easy to him, and at first glance, you might think he’s some one-dimensional male character. However, once Arnie’s point of view enters the narration, you learn very quickly that he is multi-layered and completely obsessed with Emma in all the best ways. He is swoon-worthy, as he works hard to help Emma achieve the promotion, creates memory-making dates, and cares for her in times of trouble. It’s clear that Arnie is definitely not laid-back; he’s enamored with Emma in ways that most women would love for a man to be. I found myself anticipatory for his chapters because I loved the way he loved Emma especially when she struggled to love herself. It was this anticipation that glued me to Vines’s story.
Now, Emma is a lovely character in this book. She tends towards neuroticism, in my opinion. And there were plenty of times when I wanted to whisper in her ear to stop overthinking every situation. Thankfully, Vines rectifies this quickly and remedies situations, so that the angst level of the story stays low. It’s just enough to keep you engaged, but not enough to stop you reading the story. This is a delicate balance where other authors struggle. Not Vines, however. Instead, she knows how to allow the hero to rescue the situation long before the story becomes too painful for the reader.
“Someone, by slow increments, I’d come to need him.”
Additionally, I loved how Emma (once she acknowledged her interest in Arnie) helped him accept his past and choose a better future for himself. Their relationship aids each in healing past wounds and finding self-love because they feel the love of the other. For me, this was the true essence and beauty of Race You, along with Vines’s other books. Love should heal, not hurt the individual. And Vines illustrates this beautifully in her book. Her hero (in this case, Arnie) and her heroine (Emma) complete each other. She takes two halves and creates a whole…
I have quickly come to adore Jolie Vines. Her stories are little bits of heaven in the world of romance. You will always find these incredible men who love and take control and adore their heroines. And the heroines bloom under their care in her books. Vines always throws in a little angst, but she takes care to control it enough to allow her readers’ love for her books to bloom too. Even more, Jolie Vines’s Race You reminds readers that love should always allow you to love yourself; anything else is simply dishonest, an important truth to remember every day.
“I could breathe. She believed me. I knew her, and the tide had turned. Now for the home truths she needed to hear. ‘And love me, ‘ she whispered. ‘Because you don’t think you deserve to be loved. Because love wasn’t always reliable, and that’s why you decided so easily that mine was fake. Why you saw what happened on that stage and didn’t wait to hear my side because it validated what you knew deep down. Because you love me, and that scares you because you think I’ll break your heart…’’I won’t. I will never, ever hurt you. You mean the world to me. Everything that is colourful and beautiful. It’s all you. Your heart, your smile.’[…] ‘You are perfect. A perfection I tried to replicate but never could. If I paint you for the rest of my life, I’ll never capture this feeling you give me. I love you and you love me. At least I hope to god you do.’”
OMG! Absolutely adored this story!!
Enemies-to-lovers. Office romance. Secret crush. Undeniable chemistry. Bonus – English author writing a story set in England – with a tiny cameo of my home town! LOL
“She was the smartest woman I’d ever met, and it turned me on like a neon sign over my head screamed hot for you.”
Emma Worthington loves coding and is a brilliant bug-fixer. She works hard but rarely gets recognised for it. That’s partly to do with the fact that she got off on the wrong foot with the boss on her first day at work – all the fault of a prank by her arch rival, Arnie Montrose. She spends her days glaring at him and despising him. While he…he spends his days nursing his secret crush on her.
”I wanted Emma to be more than just attracted to me, because I wanted every last piece of her.”
I was hooked on this story from the first page! I loved the tension between Emma and Arnie. While actively disliked him, he thought it was all playful competition. I loved that it was dual POV so we could follow each character’s real thoughts. Emma was a really caring person, even though she kept her heart guarded. She was independent, capable and pretty fearless on the whole. And, Arnie…oh, Arnie! He totally captured my heart! I loved his depth, his vulnerability, and his desire for Emma. He understood her so well.
”Arnie seduced every one of my senses. Even with my eyes closed he was all I could see.”
This was an addictive read that engaged all my senses. There was such yearning, such passion, and a beautiful, wonderful fall into love. Thoroughly, thoroughly recommend!
Jolie Vines has done it again In this wonderfully engaging romance of enemies to lovers book. One of the best things about Jolie’s books is the strong female characters in each of her books. Emma’s strength drew me in and found me cheering for her success! Emma and Arnie are such likable characters. They each have their own issues to work through; and, it is so interesting to watch the hurdles they encounter along the way and how they handle it.
This book kept me interested from the very beginning. There were quite a few interesting twists and turns in the book that kept me guessing. I didn’t know from one chapter to the next what was going to happen next. I was quite surprised by them.
I have not read one of Jolie’s books that hasn’t kept me wanting more. This will not disappoint. I want to learn more about the secondary characters introduced in this book! Grab this book for a great fun, romantic read!
Race You is a super sweet enemies to lovers romance. And compared to Jolie Vines’ previous books it’s more on the lighter side, but still gives a little bit of angst that you’re used to from this author. Arnie is such an incredibly kind hero. Which is the perfect compliment to our heroine, Emma, who is a bit more guarded. I definitely recommend this and all of Jolie Vines books. If you haven’t read anything from her yet, what’s stopping you?
5 CRANKY STARS
Wow, what a great love story. This writer makes me love her characters. She gives them such depth and makes them loveable. Even the villains are believable because they are so nasty in her books. Emma and Arnie make office romance an Olympic sport with their love hate relationship. And, their boss is almost comical yet, believable as a jerk.
When Emma applied for the digital designer job at Frugal, she was beat out by her ex Richard. Since she had helped him with his presentation, she was floored. At least the company gave her a temporary position on the Bug-Fix team. Her first day, she met Arnie. He played a nasty prank on her and she hated him from that day on. He sat across from her and worked on the phone support team which meant he referred the cases to her. He always had a joke or cruel remark to make.
Arnie met Emma on day one and knew there was something special about her. He was only going to be there a year. After that, he was going back to college in Italy. He loved their snarky little computer comment game and thought she liked him too. Little did he know that she hated him and thought he was cruel. Afterall, he had no idea he had a reputation as the “love them and leave them” heartthrob in the office.
The lead digital designer is leaving on maternity leave and the office needs a temporary replacement. A competition is setup to determine who will fill this role. Emma is shocked when Arnie jumps on her team. The third member is Georgia. When Georgia gets ill, the team is down to two. Now Emma must work one on one with Arnie.
You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens. Sparks fly, family histrionics abound. Will the two of them finally admit they are in love? Thank you, Ms. Vines, for making me love romance novels again.
This was such a fun enemies-to-loves office romance! I loved Emma and Arnie’s relationship and how it progressed throughout the story.
This is my first read from Jolie Vines and I hope that she continues to write more of this style of book because she absolutely killed it.
This story completely hooked me from the very beginning, I mean it all started with a sex dream. Emma claims to hate Arnie but she can’t help but think about him. I loved the banter between Emma and Arnie. The chemistry between the two of them was fantastic. Arnie wins for the best date imaginable though! It was perfect and just perfect.
This is such fun read so for anyone who loves office romances, enemies to lovers or both I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one to you!
I really enjoyed Race You. This book is fun, sweet, and engaging. The characters are great. I really like Emma and Arnie. I enjoyed their witty banter and easy going relationship. I also like the secondary characters such as the family members. The book is well written and with great depth of characters and their world around them. This is a wonderful, romantic book.
Race You by Jolie Vines is a contemporary, enemies-to-lovers, workplace romantic comedy told in first person, dual POV.
Coworkers, Emma Worthington and Arnie Montrose, have always been in competition with each other. It all began the first day Emma started working at Frugal. She didn’t understand what possessed Arnie to pull such an embarrassing prank on her, but it started her on the wrong foot with her boss and she’s never been able to get on the right one. From that moment forward Emma considered Arnie to be an enemy.
When the company holds a competition for a coveted promotion, she’s surprised when he volunteers to be on her team. He must be doing it to sabotage her. What other motive could there be? Emma would prefer not to be teamed up with Arnie, but the boss loves him. It won’t look good if she asks to trade teammates, so she’s stuck with him.
Arnie has been interested in Emma from the moment she joined Frugal. He doesn’t understand why she doesn’t like him, but he has enjoyed teasing her and competing with her. Arnie’s time at Frugal is temporary – he has plans to move on and the time to leave is rapidly approaching. He’s not interested in the promotion, and Emma really deserves it. So when the competition arises, he seizes the opportunity to be close to her by being on her team.
I really enjoyed Emma and Arnie’s love story. As characters, they were both realistic and very likeable. I enjoyed their witty banter and rapport. The story was lighthearted, engaging, sweet, romantic, flirty, and fun. I highly recommend it.
*** I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC. ***
Arnie can steal my job any day!
Wow – what an amazingly complex, witty, and heartwarming story! This book turned out to be so much more than the blurb let on. Not only do we have the main romance of Arnie and Emma – a deliciously slow-burn pairing that resonates on every emotional level, but we also have a surprise romance on the side, a lot of family history and sibling support, and a bit of corporate intrigue that ties it all together beautifully.
This was a non-stop, leave-mama-alone-I’m-reading literary escape that took me from London to Italy and back again, and I loved every single bit of it. The writing was exquisite, the characters fairly jumped off the page, and the entire experience was gloriously detailed right down to the miniature, moral-high-ground-holding former nun. I could almost smell the maple pecan brownies!
Four months ago, I’d never heard of this new author. Now, after reading every book she’s published, she’s earned a permanent spot in my top ten author’s list. I can’t wait for what she has in store next. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Beautiful, amazing read x
Emma and Arnie are stunning, love the love/hate thing they have going on, the banter, the office antics, then the realisation that there’s more there, their journey to there is heartfelt x their friends and family are fabulous, the locations are stunning..
Fabulous read you don’t wanna miss out on x
I absolutely loved Emma & Arnie’s story. Once I started reading I didn’t want to put it down.
I loved the characters & the storyline.
I will definitely be reading more of Jolie’s books.
If your thinking about reading Race You, you should!!
Race You is another ace book by Jolie Vines. Her characters are adorable, and I rooted for Arnie from the start. He’s such a cute cinnamon roll (with highly delicious muscles, lol). The competition they enter in really pushed the tempo of this story, and I loved how things played out in the end (The drama! The betrayal! I’m there for it.). There was even a tiny cameo from her wonderful Marry the Scot series, and I cheered when I saw it.