A Woman’s Worth

North (Giving It Up) begins a contemporary erotic series with the realistic romance of a working woman entangled with her older boss. Overworked Chantal Jones juggles her upper-level marketing job with caring for her two kids after a messy divorce. She guiltily relieves stress and frustration with sexy fantasies about her aloof boss, Ronan Nakata, never imagining that her crush might be returned. She’s astonished and aroused to learn Ronan is attracted to her, and he reveals that he’s eager to have Chantal take charge during sexual encounters. She relishes the power she has over him, but remains confused about Ronan’s restrained, almost passive behavior; he offers her his body but never permits a real emotional connection to develop. Her best friend provides counseling and support as Chantal balances frequent scorching sex with Ronan’s tentative approach to emotional intimacy, trying to figure out how to get the committed equal partnership—and workplace success—that she wants. The workmanlike prose makes its points too emphatically, and the characters are bland and unsurprising, but the story refreshingly centers the heroine and gives her most of the sexual agency, and the sex scenes are more original than the rest of the story. [em](BookLife) [/em]