A Temporary SituationRating: 2.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Dominic loves his job as a personal assistant and he has a good relationship with his boss. It’s the company’s CEO, Tristan Maxwell, that he doesn’t care for much. Sure, Tristan is gorgeous and successful and all the other staff members seem to love him, but Dominic knows better. For Dominic read that one article where Tristan didn’t have the most professional things to say about his employees and since then, Dominic has avoided any other articles about the man and does his best to avoid Tristan all together.

But when Tristan’s assistant falls ill, Dominic is tasked with filling in. Nothing Dominic thought he knew about Tristan makes sense when he spends more time with him and one night after too much whiskey, Dominic tries to kiss Tristan. But Tristan shoots him down, saying he’s not only straight, but engaged.

Yet Tristan stays close to Dominic both in the office and out and Dominic is more than a little exasperated with his boss. Dominic finds Tristan wanting to be his friend and when friendship leads to a night of seduction, Dominic cannot resist Tristan. But sleeping with his boss feels all kinds of wrong and while Dominic really has no idea what Tristan ultimately wants, taking a chance may just get Dominic the man and the relationship he truly desires.

As a reviewer, I have the opportunity to read lots of books and I do so with a completely open mind each and every time. Sure, there are characters I like more than others, but I am also interested in different types of characters and seeing what different authors can do with them. It’s rare for a character to be the sole reason that a book didn’t work for me, but here, I truly began to loathe Tristan.

The book opens with Dominic and the story is told from his point of view. Right away, I had issues with the way the story was presented. Dominic works at a highly regarded engineering company where Tristan is the CEO. (As an aside, Dominic keeps talking about his tape recorder and intercom and that made the book read as dated.) Everyone loves Tristan, except Dominic. This is because Dominic read one article about Tristan and he didn’t like what he read. Since then, he has avoided every single other article about Tristan and thinks he knows the real Tristan better than all of the other employees in the company based on this one article and this didn’t work for me. Dominic also refers to Tristan as “Mr. Fucking Perfect” throughout the early part of the book and it was so overused and never rose above juvenile status.

The book then moves into Dominic working for Tristan and his attitude is ridiculous toward the CEO of the company. Yet, Tristan didn’t make things much better. His schedule seems exceedingly light for a CEO and he spends time gazing at Dominic at his desk and taking him for extended lunches. The idea here was that Dominic was working for Tristan temporarily, but from the beginning it’s clear that Tristan has no intention of letting Dominic go. To this end, Tristan interviews potential candidates for the position yet makes a mockery out of each interview and has no intention of hiring any of these people that he brings in. Maybe some readers will find him funny, but for me he bordered on obnoxious and was immature.

Tristan is also engaged to a woman for part of the book and claims he’s straight. His fiancée is a model and is so stereotypical and almost made to be a caricature. However, there is no cheating when Tristan all of a sudden decides he wants Dominic. There is no lead up and Dominic is portrayed as having no warning when Tristan decides he’s ready to be intimate with Dominic. What really bothered me was that Dominic says no at first. He really was caught off guard and Tristan then pressures him as he claims he’s seducing him. Ultimately, Dominic did enjoy himself, but Tristan also then carries this type of behavior into the office and this isn’t how you treat people.

There is no information offered on Tristan and where his thoughts are on his sexuality. All we know is that he has never been with a man before. There is no indication at all of why now and why Dominic and I needed more depth in that area as well. When Tristan decides he is going to “romance” Dominic he comes off between a hyperactive puppy and a stalker. And Dominic, for his part, just goes along with whatever Tristan wants more or less and states several times that Tristan will always get his way. The ending, of course, has the men finding their way, but I was not sold on this relationship at all.

The characters here clearly didn’t work for me and this is the space for my opinion; your experience may certainly vary if you decide to give this book a chance.

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