Review of ‘Next in line for love’ by Harper Bliss

‘Ali’ Lennox is 35 years old and has been living abroad for the last ten years due to personal reasons. When her father summons her to replace him as the CEO of Lennox Breweries, she moves back to LA to get ready to take charge. Her father asks the company’s COO, Jill Gold, to mentor Ali and get her ready for the new position. Jill is 53 and has worked in Lennox for twenty years; a workaholic, she has a lot to show in her profession but very little at a personal level. When both women meet, sparks fly, and not of the good kind. But eventually, Jill is able to see through Ali’s spoilt brat attitude and Ali discovers in Jill a caring and compassionate person hidden behind a cool exterior. Falling for each other is wrong for many reasons, but both women cannot avoid it. Will they be able to have a happily ever after?

I love age gap and workplace romances so a book combining both and authored by Harper Bliss is right up my alley. Ms. Bliss is an accomplished author, very experienced at writing these types of stories and who can turn up the heat to off-the-chart levels. For this reason, every time I read a novel by Ms. Bliss I have high expectations, usually higher than for an unknown author. So, even though I enjoyed reading this novel, I wasn’t blown away by it.

Both characters have well-defined personalities and are so different from each other than even considering that opposites attract, their connection is tricky to believe. At the beginning of the book, Ali comes across as a self-absorbed, spoilt brat and even though the reader eventually gets to see her in a different light, her fast change seems unlikely. Additionally, Jill’s attraction for Ali looks rooted in more a physical than an emotional link that justifies the risks she is willing to take. I think all these elements, behaviour change, chemistry, attraction, could have been developed better in a longer time span. Normally, Ms. Bliss’s novels tend to be short-ish, which is ok with me, but in this case, maybe a longer extension would have allowed for a better character development and change.

Having said all that, I still enjoyed this read, it was entertaining and some parts were hot, as usual with this author. Ms. Bliss is one of the best lesfic writers of sex scenes and this book is no exception. So, if you are looking for a short and low on angst lesbian age gap romance set in the corporate world, this might be a good choice. 3.5 stars.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.