I never thought my first kiss would be on my wedding day.But here I stand, clutching a bouquet of pale pink roses behind the doors of a Las Vegas chapel, and at the end of the aisle is the absolute last man I imagined would be waiting for me.Thomas Bane.Bestselling author. Notorious bad boy. Savagely handsome, dark as sin, chiseled as stone. And somehow, my soon-to-be husband.Marry him, and I’ll … husband.
Marry him, and I’ll land my dream job. Save him, and I’ll walk away with everything I’ve ever wanted. All I have to do is remember it’s all for show. None of it is real, no matter how real it feels.
But first, I have to survive the kiss.
And with lips like his, I don’t stand a chance.
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I am loving this series. I think each one just gets better and better. I was waiting for Amelia’s story and boy did it not disappoint, not one bit.
Staci Hart is one of my favourite go-to authors and she didn’t disappoint me with this one. It was sweet, easy to read. Her words draw you in every time and hold you close until the very end. She makes you become invested in her characters and their storylines.
Amelia has intrigued me since meeting her in previous books Piece of Work and Player . She’s a book blogger so she appeals to me, her nerves about meeting authors reminds me of mine when I am at signing.
Thomas Bane is a best selling author with a bit of a wild boy persona. He is close to being dropped by his publisher unless he can get over his writers block and turn his image around. When he meets Amelia at a book signing, he is instantly drawn to her. There is something about her personality that sparks something inside of him, that inspires him again. What else can he do but ask her to be his ‘wife’ for a year!
What I loved about this book was the slow build romance, the friendship blossomed into more quickly but it took them time to acknowledge their true feelings, end the pretence.
I cannot wait to read the next book and Katherine’s story
It’s no secret that I adore Staci Hart’s books. Her writing is just sublime and her characters just burst from the pages. Work In Progress is not exception. It’s sexy, brooding hero and quirky, shy and retiring heroine are the perfect foil for each other. Their attraction was blatantly obvious from the second the met. I loved how enamored Tommy was with Amelia from the outset. This was supposed to be the writing world’s bad boy and he was ready to fall over himself for her.
How their fake marriage comes about is fun and adorable to watch as it happens. It’s not long before the fake relationship is teetering on the edge of becoming real. I loved seeing them together and had a blast reading this warm and fuzzy feel-good story.
Grab a comfy seat and download your copy today and enjoy this Work In Progress.
5 Stars
This latest Rom Com from Staci Hart has yet again, captured my heart and everything I love about her writing. I absolutely adored Amelia. She’s the shy, quiet book blogger who would rather hole up in her room. She normally doesn’t do people, especially strangers, and when she is sent in to meet Thomas Bane, she’s not exactly sure how she’s going to pull it off. Thomas Bane. Greek God, perfect hair, lips to die for, bad boy, and writer extraordinaire. But there’s more to this quintessential bad boy than meets the eye. Like the fact he’s hiding a humongous heart underneath all that hair lol. Meeting Thomas Bane brings Amelia out of her shell somewhat, and when he offers her a position on his team she jumps at the chance to be his “no” girl.
Devising the plan the clean up Tommy’s act by having him marry a “good girl” may have been an off the cuff idea, but the chemistry these two share is undeniable. And no matter how different these two were, it was just a matter of time before real feelings took over and they realized what they had was something special. I loved everything about this story and it just continues to show me why I love all things Staci Hart.
Angela – Alphas Do It Better Book Blog
ALLLLL the warm fuzzy feelings. Staci Hart brings on her rom-com best with Tommy and Amelia’s story.
This book made me smile, laugh, and smile some more. So well written, it was easy to fall into this story until I ate it all up..In one day.
As a shy blogger, I completely identified with the heroine. Insecure but smart, witty and absolutely lovable, Amelia is the type of heroine that you always root for. And her chemistry with Tommy was through the room. Tommy, a confident, silly, intelligent, seemingly out-of-reach-sexy author was easily as lovable as Amelia was.
You root for them from the beginning. Following their unlikely tale that has you falling in love along with them.. Turning the page one after the other – until you’re done and you wonder where the rest of the day went.
I ADORED this story so much. It made me my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. This is the type of romance everyone needs in their life. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
Already a fan of Staci Harts’ Lipstick Coalition series I knew I would love this book but something about Amelia and Tommy stole my breath. To say I absolutely ADORED this book is an understatement. Work in Progress is one of the most delightful slow-burn romance stories I’ve ever read. The connection and chemistry between Amelia and Tommy is unrivaled and sharing their journey of falling in love is magical.
I’m typically not a lover of the 21st century marriage of convenience trope but Staci Hart makes it work, as she makes every romance comedy trope work. Staci brings a fresh twist when two highly unsuitable for each other people meet and the sparks fly. Hired to help bad boy Tommy with the development of a new book, innocent and virtuous Amelia find herself fully immersed in Tommy’s life when she further agrees to marry Tommy in order to help his image and to keep his career afloat.
“I was a lot, I knew. In fact, my charm was a weapon I wielded at every opportunity. A weapon, and a shield. But I didn’t want to woo her. Well, I wanted to woo her. But that wasn’t all I wanted. I didn’t want to dazzle her or blind her.”
And dazzler her he does. But what’s dazzling is how Tommy comes to feel so very much for her. Amelia is just darling and the two quickly form an amazing friendship as companions in life. With a time limit that is. But their domestic bliss made my heart burst with happiness. What I really adore about her is that she is confident, she knows her worth but just doesn’t like to socialize all that much. Who can blame her? It doesn’t take all that long before Tommy’s influence on her shows and she is coaxed out of her shell. The connection between Tommy and Amelia is bolstered by a strong physical attraction to each other and they seem to spend weeks sharing who they are through kisses. It’s truly remarkable and made for an incredibly sensual and sexy read. All seems well, until it isn’t.
There are certain forces opposing them, a few people who are suspect of their relationship and will work tirelessly to take Tommy down. they will be tested and will fail, and will need to find it in themselves to forgive themselves and each other.
Staci’s writing has always been wonderful but there was just something different in this story. You can feel her love for her characters and her love for her craft. I have a favorite in every series of hers and #WIP is certainly my favorite to date in the #RedLipstickCoalition. This is a #2019Favorite with my #MustRead recommendation!
Work in Progress was the first book by Staci that I wasn’t sure I was going to love, of course I was wrong though. The story starts out with Amelia getting ready to meet Thomas and the interaction seemed a bit weird to me at first, the more I learned about Amelia through the story and the more we get to really see her character come to life, the first couple of chapters made sense.
Work in Progress is a heart warming story with enough humor, passion, and emotion to make this a must read. Amelia is very shy and kind of awkward, I think I liked her so much because she reminds me a but if myself. Thomas was exactly what she needed to find her self and come face to face with some things she can finally overcome. Work in Progress was another fantastic story by Staci and I would have definitely given it five stars if I wasn’t so unsure of the story peaking my interest in the beginning.
~ Jessica
Amelia is a shy introvert and Thomas is the notorious playboy, and these two are as total opposites as chalk and cheese, yet together they are perfect. I loved the secondary characters and the witty banter. This talented author had the unique ability when writing to draw the reader in and keep captivated throughout. This is a beautifully written story which is hilarious, and with characters that are relatable, so I could not put it down until finished. I cannot wait to read more from this author, and highly recommend her work for all readers.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy from Social Butterfly PR for an honest review.
3.5 stars
“She was perfect. Kind and gentle. Soft and pure. Honest and true. Everything I wasn’t. She was the angel to my devil.”
Work in Progress was one of my highly anticipated reads for 2019. Since I first heard about Amelia’s story I was hooked and curious. A book blogger falling in love with an author. Who of us doesn’t want to read this story?
“That’s the only time it feels real – when we’re faking it. I’m tired of pretending, Amelia.”
However, sometimes a book leaves us with confused feelings. And I’m not talking about the feelings the characters transport, but more about the feelings about the book in general. While I’m writing this review, I’m still not sure on how to finally rate this book. Sometimes it just happens that you read a book you want to love so badly but ending up loving it less than expected. I was pretty excited about Amelia’s story and it sounded so promising. I loved the idea of the story and after Player my expectations were pretty high.
“She was everything right in the world. And now she was mine.”
I know we all want to read honest reviews and IMO it’s always the hardest to voice your thoughts about a book that didn’t flash you. Reading Work in Progress was for me like taking a hot and cold shower. I can’t explain it any other way. It took me about 50% to get into the story and the characters. Until then it was hard for me to form a connection to the characters and to relate to the connection Amelia and Thomas where building. After that I had moments when my stomach fluttered and I was deep into the attraction and chemistry, just only to feel distant to the characters shortly after.
“I knew the second the universe put you in my path that you would change everything, and you have.”
Amelia’s and Thomas’s story is a total slow burn and the pace the book is written totally fits the story and its development. Both characters are well drafted but somehow they didn’t feel real to me, like something was missing in the execution. I missed the character development, at least to me it was not present. Not only the development as individuals but also more as a couple.
“She’s… she’s a wish I didn’t know I had. I didn’t know what I’d be missing.”
I’m so sorry I didn’t love the book as much as most of you do. I really wish I could. But at the end, and after a serious discussion with my heart, I can’t give it more than 3.5 stars. I know, 3.5 stars is not a bad rating. At least not for me and believe me when I say it’s totally worth giving it a shot. I love the whole series and the Red Lipstick Coalition. I love these girls and I missed them in this book. I wished they would have been included a little more.
“I was changed, rearranged and every piece of me had Tommy’s name on it.”
Work In Progress is an adorable, heartfelt romance which combines passion, steam and laughs equally measured.
“He was the sum of my universe, heart and soul.”
The RLC is back again, this time with Amelia’s story, remember her from Rin and Val’s books? She’s the super shy book blogger who really only talks when necessary? I’ve been waiting for her book since I knew Val, Amelia and Katherine we’re going to get their own stories. If you read Player, Val’s book, then you probably read the sneak peek to Amelia’s at the end and it was juuuuust enough to hook you but not enough to satisfy you. Don’t worry guys, Staci has done it again and boy did she give us the book we all needed without knowing we actually needed it.
In the beginning, Amelia meets Thomas Bane, sexy smoldering author, she’s reviewed every single one of his books at nothing more than a 3-star, and for an author, that’s not a good thing. Before we know it, he’s asking her for help with his next novel and cute little shy Amelia agrees because what would be better than to tell someone “no, this sucks” then again, before we know it Thomas Bane (how does one say just his first name? You don’t) is in trouble and there’s a marriage pact. You guys, these are some of the best stories and Staci delivers, one thousand freakin percent.
There’s all the drama one needs, the lovey dovey stuff we all crave, the heat, it’s alllll there and it is amazing. We get to see Amelia become a different version of herself, she does things you wouldn’t expect, things you wouldn’t ever even think she’s capable of and it’s the best.
I seriously freakin love her. I love them all, if we’re being honest. Each of these girls are a part of my soul. I have connected with all of them in some way and I can not wait for Katherine’s book. When y’all get to the epilogue of this, you’re going to die. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I’m not even sure where to start with this book. I have been a fan of Staci Hart for, well, forever. This book is by far my new favorite of hers. I highlighted so much of this book, it’s not even funny. Hart blew this book out of the water, seriously.
From the first page, she grabs your attention and keeps it. I fell in love with Amelia and her beautiful, true personality. Tommy, oh my word, Tommy. His love and devotion is heartwarming and made me fall head over heels. The side characters were perfect. I loved every aspect of this story.
I got all the emotions I want from a book, perfectly mixed together.
Hart delivers a beautiful love story that I won’t forget easily, and has me looking beyond forward to the next book.
Her words spoke straight to my soul and I can’t thank Staci enough for sharing her talent with us all.
“Faith is complete and absolute. Faith cannot be shaken. Faith believes, even when what you can see betrays what you know.”-Tommy
Final Score – 5 Stars!
How has it happened that I’ve started with the third book in this series?! GAH! What an introduction though. I’ve definitely got to get caught up with the first two books now for sure.
This book has the makings of rom-com masterpiece: a fake marriage, a never been kissed virgin, a bad boy with a bad rep, an image make over, and sizzling chemistry. Mixed together and you have a gem of a story that only Staci Hart can bake and serve up on a silver platter. I ate up word, every emotion and just wanted more!
This book has so many amazing layers and the characters just add to the dynamic of the story – you don’t want to miss out on this one. Work in Progress is only the book to read but it must be owned.
Omg this book!!!! Staci Hart did it again, I love me a good marriage of convenience story and this one didn’t disappoint. Amelia and Tommy were so good together. I enjoyed the development of the characters throughout the book. As well as the story. The fact that it wasn’t insta love. Even though it took such a short distance of time it wasn’t like I see you and boom I’m in love with you.
Amelia is very innocent and mousey and at times that kind of annoyed me.
I liked that Tommy stood for something he wasn’t just your typical brooding hero. Their growth together was good.
Overall it was a solid story and I can’t wait to read the next one!!!
Wow, wow, wow…I’ve definitely found a new favorite author and her name is Staci Hart. All the books I’ve read by her are fabulous. This book in particular is probably one of my favorites because of the heroine. Amelia is my spirit animal and is so delightfully quirky. Tommy is just all things amazing….he’s funny, charming, sexy and so protective of Amelia. Their journey in this book (bot separately and together) is perfection. I felt all the feelings while reading this book. There was angst, tension, laughing, and almost on the verge of crutjing there for a little bit. The banter and dialogue is so honest if that makes any sense. I can’t wait to recommend this book to others.
OK … I really did enjoy this read, but I didn’t love it as much as the others in this series. Rin & Court from Piece of Work still have my heart. I really, REALLY wanted to love this one, but couldn’t quite connect with their relationship or with Thomas Bane. However, the fact I’ve been having a slow month of reading and in a bit of a rut, doesn’t help with matters at all.
I’ve been really enjoying stories with the marriage of inconvenience trope, I love seeing that journey from fake relationship to something real. I don’t know what it was but I definitely saw Amelia and Thomas as kindred spirits, two souls that essentially always to be in each other’s lives. And I couldn’t get on that level of the love part of their relationship. I was over the moon how sweet their friendship was and how they were out to protect each from the very beginning. I don’t know why, but I thought they were better off as friends. Staci, please don’t hate me, still FOREVER love your books, that will never change!
Of course, I was eager to see all my girls from the Red Lipstick Coalition back together again, I’m always waiting to read those scenes because they are the best girl tribe anyone can ask for. They’re such a hilarious bunch, but they’re loyal and supportive to one another. I can never get enough of them.
Another thing that is always certain with this series is that I instantly love the heroine. I loved the shy and introvert that is Amelia and bonus points for being a book blogger. And the aspect of digging deep and laying out all the truth about Thomas’s books were the absolute BEST. It was such a great foundation to their new-found friendship.
SO yeah, definitely enjoyed this one, but saw them better as friends. There’s sooo many moments that everyone will love. And (as usual) can’t wait for Katherine’s book, like SUPERRRR excited for this!
**I INVOLUTARILY REVIEWED WITH MY HONEST OPINION FOR AN ADVANCED READER’S COPY**
Staci Hart
The Red Lipstick Coalition has become one of my favorite series and Work In Progress was a fantastic, sweet and heartwarming addition that had me swooning, sighing and laughing out loud the whole book through.
Let me start off by saying two words- THOMAS BANE!! If you haven’t met him yet what are you waiting for? Hot as sin, cocky, playful, fiercely protective and with a heart of gold Tommy was the ultimate book boyfriend. Though not to be outshined Amelia Hall completely surprised me and I adored her. Out of the RLC she was always the character I could identify with the most. A sweet, shy, awkward and quirky bookworm I loved seeing her sassy and fiery side as well. These two together were absolutely explosive and the angst and tension between them is everything you could ever want in an amazing slowburn.
If you love reads that give you butterflies in your stomach and will have you smiling from ear to ear then you need Work In Progress. From characters that any booklover could completely identify with to a heartwarming and utterly charming romance that will have you swooning Work in Progress is one book you don’t want to miss out on.
Intriguing as heck, and what’s more, it includes a great group of four friends who live together in a brownstone in the city of New York. They are all widely different, but what they have in common is how much they love and support one another, and the strong shade of red in their lipstick. It’s their call to power and what they wear brazenly when they need to establish their self-worth.
This installment is about Amelia, the colorless, painfully shy and bookish girl in their group. Quietly competent in the world of books and words, she’s very shy and afraid in the presence of people, especially big crowds. She stays a lot inside her brownstone and only goes outside when it’s strictly necessary or to the swing club with her friends. Since she’s trying to come out of her cage and deal with people, she takes on an assignment from the NY Times and goes to a book signing. The author is Thomas Bane, who she follows and routinely rips apart in her book reviews. Their meeting is comical, mostly because she’s initially speechless but when they start discussing his books, she becomes animated and is not a colorless person anymore.
Thomas realizes what a precious little gem Amelia is. He sees beyond the diminutive body, pale skin, pale hair and light blue eyes and sees the person inside. When she feels confident she’s a spitfire, the rest of the time she’s a mousey girl. He needs to improve his reputation as a womanizer plus he needs help with writer’s block so he proposes a deal with her. He will help her deal with people, with being in public, and she will in turn help him with his book.
What starts as a work cooperation turns into something much more complicated that eventually includes their hearts and feelings. I loved both characters, as they were multilayered and complicated. But the character I loved the most was Amalia. She was so pure, so innocent, helpful and compassionate. Once she engages with someone, she’s pure heart. When she feels confident, she’s sassy and mischievous, and when Tommy engaged her heart she was passionate and very responsive. Tommy was the complicated guy with a controversial past that was constructed to cloak his upbringing and the family he loves so much. I loved the story and the development of love in this couple, the arc of growth in Amelia’s self-confidence and the humanization of Tommy as he truly loves and trusts a woman for the first time in life. It truly was a great story.
Can’t wait for Katherine’s story! She’s the nerdy type with lots of useless information, just perfect for a great book.
The girls of the Red Lipstick Coalition are the best friends of your dreams! The kind that are loyal and push you to be brave. They will help you google sex stuff that you don’t know about and encourage you to try it. I’ve loved each of the books of this series but this one was next level stuff.
The pull and tension between these Tommy and Amelia is so swoontastic! They are adorable as they try to fight falling for each other. You will cry, crack up, get heart broken, and then just DIE at the epilogue! Soooo good Staci!
I adore Staci Hart for many reasons, one of them being how relatable she makes her characters. Her nerdy, quirky, awkward heroines hit a soft spot for me and gives me all the feels. And her strong, protective, compassionate heroes have a quality that is unmatched. In Work In Progress, shy book blogger Amelia has a marriage of convenience with bad-boy author Thomas “Tommy” Bane, who needs a bit of a public image clean-up. This will also lead to Amelia landing her dream job, so it’s a win-win for both. What neither of them realize is how incredibly perfect they are for each other. Tommy, despite his reputation, is gentle, loving, compassionate, and generous. This makes for a perfect match for shy, naïve, mousy Amelia. They bring out the best in each other and make each other brave. If I could sum up this book, it would be that: be brave. Brave enough to fall. Brave enough to catch someone. Just…be brave. Amelia and her friends, lovingly known as The Red Lipstick Coalition, are a group of girls who found the strength within each other to be brave and take a leap of faith into life and love. Get your heart broken. Fall head over heels. Just LIVE. And that’s what Amelia did. Tommy did, too. For a “bad boy”, he has his own secrets he’s hiding that, in order for him to be understood, need to come out. And trusting Amelia is the first step in that. Work In Progress is a testimony to all the shy, quiet girls who never spoke up and never thought they were seen or good enough. And I reached 100% completion on my e-reader with an ear-to-ear grin, knowing that girls like that can be brave and just BE.
5 When Fake Becomes Real Stars!!!
I’m here to tell you that this book has become my most favorite book written by one of my favorite authors. Ms. Hart has touched so many elements of my life as part of the bookworld and I connected immediately with Amelia, the shy, introverted woman that meets her favorite author at a signing one day and before she knows it, she’s married to him!
Her first meeting with Tommy Bane had me chuckling because, if you’re part of this amazing world that I’ve immersed myself into, you understand becoming flummoxed when meeting a “unicorn’ author…
“God knew I had enough words in my head, words in my heart, chittering chattering words that never saw the light of day when the spotlight was on me.”
If you don’t already know, Amelia Hall is one of the quartet of women known as the Red Lipstick Coalition established in Ms. Hart’s Piece of Work last year. I never knew how funny sweet, shy and unassuming Amelia could be, but teamed up with this man that has created a world that puts emphasis on who he wants the public to see, and trust me the story behind that had my heart smiling with joy. This is a man that has so much below the surface, he just doesn’t let it out very often…until he’s forced to expose himself to save his world and Amelia is the woman he entrusts with it all because of the connection he felt upon their first meeting…..
Something had stopped me on the sight of her, halted my thought. Something in the air between us, tight and humming, a spark of awareness, a zing of connection.”
I was literally consumed by this book the minute I started it. I love the friendship between these four women, I love how Tommy wants to help Amelia become a woman that can face her fears and become so much more than she thought she could be, become the woman others in her life saw in her.
The fact that she could help his writers block with their fake marriage was really what this was all about. When Tommy leans on her to help him write the book that’s due in a mere month her life becomes so vibrant and filled with laughter and joy and a sense of feeling accepted by the outside world all because of this strikingly handsome man that sees beyond the outside…
“If I’d ever passed Amelia Hall on the street, she wouldn’t have caught my attention. But that was the thing about girls like her. Once you saw them, there was no unseeing them.”
This book has the best slow burn ever!!! While the book moves at a rapid pace, in reality, their relationship moves at the speed that’s comfortable for her. Along the way, there are true laugh out loud moments that had me snorting at times. Tommy’s amazement at the antics of her friends, and they’re in rare form with this book, and the things that come out of her mouth….
“I can’t even handle it when you swear. You’re like a little bunny rabbit with a filthy mouth.”
There’s an ever present chemistry between our H/h and it’s zinging off the pages. This man is stunning in his beauty and Amelia isn’t sure what to do with it. But as their feelings for each other grow, they take their relationship to the next level with very careful planning that had me chuckling and swooning at the same time, and oh my goodness, it was so good.
“I had never been so horny in my life. Of course, I’d never had Thomas Bane’s hand on my ass or the python in his pants pressed against my stomach.”
As I kept reading the story got better and better. The characters are people that I’ve grown to love. The story is so richly developed and having it set in the bookworld is BRILLIANT!! It’s every blogger’s dream come true to have an author ask them to read their words before anyone else. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little jealous of Amelia and her getting this chance, even if it is a fictional story!
When this story gets very real and things are questioned…feelings, motives, and individuals, their life as they know it, changes on a dime. Can they overcome what they perceive to be mistruths? Ms. Hart did such a phenomenal job of getting me truly invested in this book, these characters and their lives that I’m just a little sad it’s over because I love this couple so much!!! Luckily we’ll get to see more of them in Well Suited which is Katherine’s story and it’s going to be a doozy!!!
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