A mixed bag for me
4 stars

This is my first Kayt Miller but one of many Cocky Hero books I’ve read. I tend to inadvertently gravitate towards the books based in the world of Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Stuck-Up Suit. Graham from that book appears in this one - as does the Ask Ida column - but all the Cocky Hero books stand completely alone. No need to have read or know anything about any other book to read, understand and enjoy this one.

In this story, Ben is a marketing manager in a department fraught with drama. Allison is a consultant brought in to get to the bottom of the problems. They start off wary of each other due to their initial meeting but it soon turns into a friendship and then more.

Ben is an absolute sweetheart and I fell for him instantly. The author manages to make him a great blend of strong, quirky and sweet. A lot of his appeal comes from the way he is with his rescue dog, Sky. Any man who loves his dog as much as Ben loves Sky, is the perfect kind of hero in my eyes.

I liked Allison, too, although I did feel I knew less of her than I knew of Ben. She’s driven and strong and she does seem to hold her own in a hostile environment. I do wish she could have been less professional when it came to Ben - but having said that, I probably wouldn’t have liked the worry of whether they would get caught fooling around in the office!

As a whole, this is a strange one to review, if I’m honest. For the majority of the book, I was thinking it would likely get 4 or 5 stars. I enjoyed the writing style - it was easy, fresh and eminently readable; the office intrigue, while overshadowing the romance for much of the book, kept me both entertained and guessing; and as I mentioned, I liked the characters.

But as soon as we find out who was behind the office issues, it just went downhill for me. Okay, fine, it got me so friggin’ annoyed. Without spoiling the ‘whodunnit’, the outcome was so unbelievably sexist, I was disgusted. It was all so ridiculously unprofessional. And don’t get me started on the fact that Allison suddenly got offered the Director of Marketing role (which is what it was) without experience or training. Aaargh!

The main storyline in the book was definitely the comings and goings in the office over the romance. Had that been resolved satisfactorily, I wouldn’t have considered this worth mentioning as Allison and Ben’s relationship was still in there and it was pretty much adorable. There was a teeny tiny bit of sex at the end but other than that it’s hand-holding and kissing. Again - adorable.

Oh, and the idea of Ben as a superhero was again, cute, but it didn’t really add anything to the story other than as a reason for Ben’s actions when meeting Ali. And as a way to “explain” Sky.

So if it was 5 stars pre-whodunnit - and definitely 3 afterwards, I’ll give the book 4 stars overall. The chapters were nice and short and I was always interested in the story and keen to read just a little more. Just a few minor niggles for me but I’d be happy to read more from Kayt Miller in the future. ( )