Hired by the Enemy by Jax Calder: Review
Hired by the Enemy is all the best things of the enemies to lovers trope wrapped up in a novella-length story with a picture-perfect setting. Tie a bow on this one, it’s the perfect gift for fans of this genre.
I love Enemies to Lovers
I personally am a huge sucker for enemies to lovers, it’s my favorite. As one of the MCs says, the thin line between hate and lust is fiery and passionate. I am ALL FOR IT.
Liam
Liam is a hot gym rat. He dreams of opening his own therapeutic/physical therapy gym. Liam makes extra money by being a hired date on the side. He’s always up for some extra money. So when a potential job involves a week in Hawaii with a rich millionaire? Of course, Liam says hell yes. But when he arrives, he locks eyes with none other than Matthew, his childhood nemesis.
Matthew
Matthew is a tech genius who made his millions with an app that helps people looking for parking in a big city find empty spaces to rent. (Actually, this is such a good idea! I hope some real tech genius has made their millions off this idea already!) When Matthew’s parking app hit big ,his company grew fast. Now he’s the very young head of a multimillion dollar tech company. Matthew is having some issues with older employees belittling him for his age and his lack of experience.
Childhood Rivals
Matthew and Liam grew up next to each other. The antagonism between them started almost as soon as Liam arrived in town. Liam perceived Matthew’s life as nearly perfect. His parents cared, he could play with his dog, and most of all? School came easy to Matthew. Liam’s jealousy caused him to lash-out and mock Matthew. Matthew, a clever boy who knew who he was and was no meek little guy, attacked back.
From that point on, Matthew saw Liam as a thorn in his side. He did a perfect job of NOT welcoming Liam to the neighborhood by initiating a prank war that lasted from early childhood until they went their separate ways after high school. I’d pay to have been a fly on the wall of Ms. Beauton’s 6th-grade class. Because Liam and Matthew were most certainly the comic relief. Because that’s when their rivalry came to the most blows. I got a kick out of the anecdotes about Ms. Beauton’s class. Also, she makes a funny cameo at the end of the book that had me cackling.
More Spice?
The ONLY thing that would have made Hired by the Enemy all the more spicy is if one or both of them had crushed on them before their prank war. But, the way this story is set up works so perfectly that I’ll forgive Calder for that little bit of missed angst that would have spiced things up.
Not that it needs it because these two have passion through the roof and the smut scenes are a chef’s kiss, a Masterclass in smut writing. A+ would read again.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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