Review of ‘The X Ingredient’ by Roslyn Sinclair

Diana Parker is Atlanta’s top lawyer, ruthless and unapologetic about it. Her professional success isn’t mirrored by her personal life as she is stuck in a failing marriage. As she searches for a new assistant, she meets Laurie Holcombe who doesn’t seem the most suitable for the job. Diana is intrigued by Laurie so she hires her on a whim and as they get to know each other, their attraction is hard to resist. But Laurie is much younger and Diana is straight anyway… or is she?

‘The X ingredient’ was born as ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ fanfiction and now is released as a full-length novel by Ylva Publishing. The appeal of this fanfiction is probably because of so many interesting tropes combined: workplace romance, age gap, and ice queen. Ms. Sinclair describes perfectly the power play between boss and assistant and its erotic possibilities when the tables are suddenly turned. I’m not going to be original with my statement but this book’s style is very similar to Meghan O’Brien’s with the amount and variety of very explicit sex scenes. The result is incredibly hot.

Ms. Sinclair can definitely write as it was shown by her debut book, ‘The Lily and the Crown‘ which was one of my favourites of 2017 and also based on the universe of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ but with the completely different background of a space opera. Some readers who enjoyed her first novel might be disappointed with this one as it is more predictable and commonplace. However, if you are a fan of lesbian erotica with a plot to back it up, such as in O’Brien’s books, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall, a well-written workplace, age-gap, lesbian erotic romance. 4.5 stars.

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