I scratched off my first prompt for my 2024 reading challenge, and it was a book with small-town and age-gap tropes. I was hoping to get this one a little later in the year, but oh well!
Book I read for the prompt:
Synopsis:
Why am I holding a box of stolen memorabilia formerly owned by my ex-boyfriend’s boss in my arms? It’s called . . . revenge.
After failing my last semester for my masters degree, I decided to come back to my hometown of Almond Bay and wallow in self pity while my boyfriend told me everything was going to be okay. To my dismay, instead of open arms, he greeted me with a box to move my things.
Now I’m not a petty person, but when he told me he broke up with me because I was boring, there’s only so much of the higher road I can take. Hence the box of memorabilia I took from him.
The plan? To give it back to his boss, who happens to be my brother’s nemesis, and get the ex fired. But plans never go the way you want them, because instead of dropping off the box with a note, I’m pinned with the crime by Hayes Farrow himself.
And because my life is so pathetic, he gives me two options: turn me into the police and press full charges or . . . work it off. How could I possibly work for someone I can’t stand? Easy, I don’t look good in orange.
But working for Hayes isn’t as horrible as I thought it would be. The hate I had for him begins to turn into something else – something deeper, something I never thought I’d feel.
Unfortunately, there are still old grudges and family drama to deal with. And what happens when my brother finds out that I’m working for the guy he hates more than anyone else in the world? Will I be able to follow my heart or will the way I hate him blind me from the love I feel?
