Review: Staying at Joe's, by Kathy Altman

Allison Kincaid's boss has sent her on a mission to find Joe Gallahan and bring him back to the PR firm for a very important client. Millions of dollars and her job is on the line if she fails. Except her and Joe were more than just colleagues. Their out of office romance is what cost her a promotion last year. Joe agrees to help only if Allison stays for two weeks to help him restore his run-down motel. But wielding a hammer and working side by side again may just give them the second chance they both secretly crave, if only there weren't so many obstacles in their path.

 

This was my first time reading Altman, and I'm pretty impressed. This wasn't a formulaic category romance. The conflict was solid, the back-stories were intriguing, the romance hot, the characters dimensional, the setting ideal, and the secondary characters hilarious. The book had a smooth pace, wanting me to keep reading, and Altman's writing style was both sweet and funny. My only quirk was secondary character, Marcus. Without throwing up a spoiler alert, I didn't feel being in his head added anything of substance we couldn't have gotten from the heroine or hero. Alas, recommended!