Review – Weekends Required by Sydney Landon

Publisher: Signet
Publish Date: Out Now
How I got this book: NetGalley

Claire Walters has worked for Jason Danvers as his assistant at Danvers International for three years, and he has never thought of her as a woman until the day she jumps out of a cake at his friend’s bachelor party.

Claire is forced to work a second job at a party planning company to support her ailing mother. She is horrified when Jason not only finds out, but has a front-row seat to the action. With Danvers in the process of merging with another company, Claire is forced to travel with Jason as well as work weekends. Suddenly all the fantasies she has entertained for years about her boss seem to be coming true. Her outspoken best friend Suzy thinks that just getting laid will solve everything. The problem is, Claire sees much more in Jason than just sex.

Jason is determined to know how the beautiful, sexy woman in the cake could also be his Plain Jane assistant who tries her best to blend into the background from 8-5 every day. Now not only does Jason see her as a woman, he fully intends to give her the fairy-tale ending that she deserves!
*Blurb from Goodreads*

I’m always on the lookout for new contemporary romance books, so when I saw that Weekends Required was picked up by Penguin, I figured I might as well give it a try and see if it was another contemporary I could add to the list of favorites.

Claire has always had a secret crush on her boss, but she would never, ever admit it to anyone. She is the perfect assistant by day, but her nights are filled with a second job in order to assist with medical bills for her mother. No one knows about her night job jumping out of cakes for bachelor parties, and she had hoped to keep it that way, until one night she jumped out of a cake and practically into the arms of her boss.

Jason never noticed Claire as a woman before, she was always just the woman who helped him get his work done. But the first time he really looked at her, he wanted her with every breath. Once he found out about her little after hours job, Jason demands she work weekends, in order to keep her from jumping out of cakes. But after quite a few weekends together, they will realize that they want more from each other than 8-5 and some weekends.

So, I didn’t absolutely love the book, but I didn’t necessarily hate it either. It was very simple and straightforward as far as contemporary romances go, and there wasn’t anything super special about it that really seemed to sink its claws into me and keep me super engaged and excited about reading. However, I found myself liking the characters enough to keep going with the story. One of the things that threw me off was that it seemed as if there were NO point of view scenes from Jason. It seemed a little odd to have an entire story told in the 3rd person, when only one character’s POV is used.

I actually liked both Claire and Jason, despite the fact that they occasionally were difficult characters to love. Claire was somewhat desperate to get extra money to help pay for her mother’s medical bills, and I felt bad that she seemed to hate her second job so much, but was willing to do it for family. I liked that she came out of her shell bit by bit as she and Jason got closer. I just wish that Claire would have had a bit more of a backbone. It seemed like she really caved a lot under Jason’s thumb, and I would have liked to see her stand up for herself and her desire to not be pushed around.

Jason was a sweet hero, but he was also domineering and controlling. He really took over her life once he decided he had to have her, and was quick to position himself completely in all aspects of her life. He wasn’t a huge Alphahole about it, but he kind of quietly snuck in and took over. I enjoyed his character, but I also felt like we never really got to know him all that well.

I will admit that some of the secondary characters stood out to me even more than Jason and Claire, especially Claire’s best friend Suzy. Suzy was fun and snarky and sassy and great fun to read about. Given that her story will be next, I will probably have to find some time to pick that one up as well, and see how the always confident Suzy deals with another character that I quickly found myself liking: Gray.

All in all this story wasn’t the contemporary romance that I was hoping it would be, but it did have just enough to keep me reading. While I liked most aspects of the story, it was missing the super special extra element that has me falling head over heels in love. I am excited to see where Landon takes the series next, especially if Gray and Suzy continue to keep me as entertained as they did in this book.
I give Weekends Required a C

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