Between men like us, trust doesn’t come easy.In this village, I’m an outcast: Griffin Everett, the scowling giant who prefers plants to people. Then I meet Keynes, a stranger from the city who’s everything I’m not: sharp-tongued, sophisticated, beautiful. Free. For a few precious moments in a dark alleyway, he’s also mine, hot and sweet under the stars… until he crushes me like dirt beneath his … stars… until he crushes me like dirt beneath his designer boot.
When the prettiest man I’ve ever hated shows up at my job the next day, I’m not sure if I want to strangle him or drag him into bed. Actually—I think I want both. But Keynes isn’t here for the likes of me: he makes that painfully clear. With everyone else at work, he’s all gorgeous, glittering charm—but when I get too close, he turns vicious.
And yet, I can’t stay away. Because there’s something about this ice king that sets me on fire, a secret vulnerability that makes my chest ache. I’ll do whatever it takes to sneak past his walls and see the real man again.
The last thing I expect is for that man to ruin me.
Work for It is 80,000 words of hot, angsty, M/M romance, a spin-off set in the Just for Him world that takes place after the final book in that series. Please be aware: this book contains references to depression and anxiety that may trigger certain audiences.
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Well. This book was wonderful. Two unfriendly, antisocial men, living with baggage and pain that can’t be wished away, find each other in a quiet town and fall in love doing quiet things– after hating and annoying each other for a delicious while first.
Work for It also delivers on two of my favorite things— positive, realistic mental health rep and a storyline that’s heavy on character development, light on external plot. Love it. So if you, like me, enjoy grumpy, plotless, strangers to enemies to almost lovers to enemies to almost lovers to friends to enemies to friends to lovers romance, this rec is for you!
Work for It
Okay, so this book is just simply the best. I wanted to cry through the entire thing but only in all the good ways. Olu is wonderfully realistically depressed, snappy and witty and occasionally purposefully brutal, but also depressed and struggling and soft and fox-loving and earnest and big-hearted and a lot of person, also in the best way. The way Griff handles him and loves him is magical. Griff himself, is also magical, but not in an unrealistic way. The way his mind works, how he gets by dealing with his own grief and own place where he got stuck, makes complete sense. And the two of them together–you and everyone who loves them, especially the ones who see them together, desperately wants them to fit together and every pay-off is absolutely magical as well. The writing and pacing and expertly placed snark are stupendous, but it’s just every perfectly captured emotion that makes this truly special and amazing and my favorite thing in the world right now. Just a fabulous read. Seriously. READ IT.
Work For It is a slow-burn, enemies to lovers that deals with darker themes, it’s not a dark romance mind you but both characters have issues they’re dealing with. I love that it wasn’t sugarcoated, that you get a very real sense of Olu and Griffin’s struggles but what I loved most is the way the saw each other. I enjoyed this story and definitely recommend it.
Copy provided by author
This was my second Hibbert book in about as many weeks. One thing has become abundantly clear to me. She has a way with characters that I react so positively to.
Griff and Olu are both uniquely flawed, both vulnerably tender yet with some highlighted strengths as well. They balanced each other in a great way.
Work for It deals with some heavier topics. Olu is depressed and trying to find his path after a failed relationship, a huge betrayal and some major family drama. While Griff has some deep seeded abandonment issues and is fairly shunned by the people of the village he’s always lived in. There is a lot for these two to work through in order to be able to have a healthy relationship – the way Hibbert guided them through it was perfectly gentle. She allowed them their frailty and I adored it.
I would have liked more time with Olu’s epiphanies to develop and mature at the climax. But I’m not overly mad about how it all played out.
Another thing I am loving about Hibbert is her detail in regards to sex. There isn’t a TON of it but when it’s there – it’s hot as hell and it feels fresh. When you read so much romance it’s rare to feel like you’re reading something new in an intimate scene. But I did here and I thank her for it!
4.5 stars I own nearly every book this author has ever released so I thought it was beyond past time I dipped into said backlist. And this was a good choice to get started. Griffin and Olu had an intense connection, but due to baggage on both sides, they really have to Work For It. They are both keeping so much of themselves back for various and sundry reasons, and honestly one of the side characters in this is utterly ghastly, but seeing those grumpy but secretly soft boys open up for each other made my cold heart warm a degree or two. I might need to find a whole week to get the rest of this backlist read. Content warnings include: anxiety and depression, small village treating one of their own absolutely horrible over years, ableism, sex on-page; mentions of parental death, suicide, forced outing, homophobic parents disowning child for being gay, sharing of intimate photos without consent, blackmail, murder, abusive parents.
There wasn’t a single thing about it that I didn’t absolutely love. Talia Hibbert’s writing is gorgeous, this story is sexy as hell, and her characters completely owned my heart. It’s a beautiful story of love, growth, friendship, and acceptance, and it’s also TOTALLY HOT. Olu and Griffin’s love story is an absolute masterpiece.
My favorite book of the year so far, and possibly one of my favorites ever. The audiobook is just as good! This is one I wish I could get in paperback to have on my shelf and re-read over and over again.
I really, really liked this. There’s so much angst. Soooo much. And it’s all from a really deep painful place inside each man that hits where it hurts. Olu suffers from depression and that is painted very realistically, with no magic-lovespell curing it. Griff is stuck in his small village and doesn’t think he’s worth anyone’s time. It’s slow-burn, well paced and heart-wrenching and the happy ever after is perfect. Also it’s set on a farm, which is my catnip.
I loved this book! It had a real beauty and the beast feel, and the writing from Talia was WONDERFUL. Griff and Keynes are so perfect together.
This book was AMAZING. Seriously, Talia Hibbert, I’m perfectly okay if you never leave that “bedroom full of books” you mention in your author info, as long as you keep on writing like this. I wouldn’t leave mine either, except that I absolutely cannot do my job from home (it would involve strangers coming in, wanting to take my books away, so NO…I barely trust my friends to borrow them).
I loved Olu and Griff–such wonderfully complicated characters, and so delicious together! In so many ways this is an opposites attract story (beautiful, rich city guy meets giant, supposedly ugly small town farmer) but underneath they actually have a lot in common. Depression has made an impact on both of their lives, and they both deal with often-crushing self doubt, though it manifests itself in vastly different ways for both of them. Communication isn’t always easy for either of them, but this doesn’t turn into one of those annoying if only they’d have a good chat, they’d be able to fix all of their problems stories because they both truly need to work things out for themselves before they can open up to each other.
Which they do–eventually. But–GAH–it takes most of the book. Ms Hibbert clearly believes in making us all work for it (ha! See what I did there? Pun wasn’t actually intended); but honestly her writing is so delicious I didn’t even mind. I started highlighting all the bits that made me smile or made me snort-laugh or made me swoon, but soon realized that roughly 75% of the book was going to be highlighted and just resigned myself to having to re-read it again to get all the “good bits”…
Jess on When in Romance has been going on about how awesome Talia Hibbert’s books are for as long as I’ve been listening to the podcast, and up until now I’ve only read a novella of hers (which I loved) in Rogue Nights –you’d better believe that’s going to change ASAP. I’ve already added the other books in this series to me TBR (this worked fine as a standalone, though) and can’t wait to get my hands on her next book Get a Life, Chloe Brown …
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
It was clear from the outset that the story would be an emotional one, and I was surprised at how quickly I had formed bonds with Olu & Griff. For the most part they are plagued with self doubt that manifested itself differently in both of them.
Olu has hurt deeply by a breach of trust and as a result he finds himself crippled by the notion of intimacy. His visceral reaction to Griff catches him unawares and his immediate reaction is to harshly reject him. For years Griff has been dismissed and overlooked and to be seen by someone like Olu, albeit briefly, opens him up to the idea of love and being loved.
WORK FOR IT was much more than what was eluded to in the blurb, and as much as I am a sucker for a grumpy hero, I was humbled by the challenges faced by both protagonists. Testament to the author’s story telling it was realistic, poignant and heartbreaking at times. I was completely overwhelmed by my adoration Olu & Griff and my need to champion their happiness. A story of hope and self discovery, it’s not one I will forget anytime soon.
Work for It touched my soul, deeply. Olu was the protective older brother in Undone by the Ex-Con and world traveler who is running from himself and I’ve been waiting impatiently for his book. Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.
Olu’s equal match proved to be a small town elderflower production manager, Griffin. He doesn’t fit in in his town any more than Olu fits in the life he’s living. Both are scarred and broken characters who have serious issues to work on and as they fall in love, they begin to work on them together. Talia Hibbert does not shy away from the pain of serious issues like depression and social isolation. Work for It was a beautifully crafted and touching book.