“I always played a part on assignment, always kept a healthy distance between myself and my character. […] Maybe this evening with Mark was my subconscious’s way of telling me to let the past go and move on. Or maybe I just really needed to get laid.”
Heartbreak for Hire is a really unique premise mixed up with some incredible chemistry and heartwarming families. It’s a revenge based workplace enemies to lovers that is sharp but also funny and sweet.
Brinkley Saunders has a secret. After having her heart broken and dropping out of graduate school, she doesn’t work as an administrative assistant like she tells everyone. Instead, she works for Heartbreak for Hire, a secret service that specializes in helping women get revenge on the men that wronged them. Brinkley is coasting through life until one day one of her targets turns into a fellow employee when her boss breaks the “women only” rule and hires a men’s team.
Brinkley has to look deep into herself to figure out if this is the life she wants to live. Does she want to keep being a heartbreaker living in secrecy afraid to make real friends and relationships, or does want to follow her dreams: one with a partner and an art gallery that she owns? Along the way she deals with a mother who’s never satisfied by her, a cat who insists on being dressed up in elaborate outfits, and five-alarm fire chemistry with Mark Cavanaugh.
Heartbreak for Hire has a lot going on: workplace drama, family conflicts and some spicy sex scenes. But it all worked for me. The workplace drama really centres less on Brinkley and Mark, and more acts as a comment on the situation of workplaces across America as we go with Brinkley and Mark and watch them work their targets. The idea of professional revenge seekers won’t be everyone’s taste, I realize that, but it really helps develop Brinkley’s character growth from someone seeking desperate approval from anyone who will give it to her, to the strong and independent woman who works on chasing her own dreams. Throw in her fragile relationship with her tough as nails academic mother while still expecting truth and respect from her partners, and I was cheering for Brinkley through the entire book.
While I loved how the ending wrapped up all of the many plot points, I wasn’t quite ready for Brinkley’s story to end. This is one novel that I really would have liked an epilogue for. I would have loved to check in with her a few months after the ending.
All in all, Heartbreak for Hire is a rom com with a lot of laughs that will also leave you thinking about love, revenge and how we define ourselves by our past choices.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
