4.5*
I won’t lie: accounting and anything to do with finances sounds like the most boring job ever to me. Yet when Zoe Cavendish reflects on her job, I have to admit it’s kinda exciting. She’s a financial adviser who clearly loves her job: « Sometimes she felt like a detective, deciphering clues, unearthing missing numbers, and then solving difficult financial problems ». When you put it that way… She also has the biggest crush on her boss, Reyna Azoulay. Reyna, whose life changed completely a few months ago when she had to take in her young nephew, after his parents died in a car crash. Reyna, who is married to her work and swears by this all-important rule: Never Sleep With The Staff.
I was rooting for Zoe from the start, the author made her feel like a genuinely nice person and I wanted her to be happy. It was a nice change reading about characters who already know each other, but are not already friends either. I liked how the author built up the relationship, it never felt artificial or forced. And while Reyna’s hot and cold attitude could have been irritating, her circumstances made it understandable. It helped that she was willing to listen to her friends’ advice and make changes in her life, even though at first it seemed impossible. And it didn’t hurt that part of the story happened in Alice Springs, it made me want to go back (not that it will happen, I live in the wrong hemisphere for that).
Jude in the Stars 