One’s playing a game. The other’s keeping score.

When wild-child Aggie Johansson shows up for an interview with the last person she’d ever want to work for, golden-boy entrepreneur Max Treadwell, she has one goal—to not be offered the position. While she hates to disappoint the two matchmaking grandmothers who’d pressed Max to hire her, she wants nothing to do with a pity job. Besides, the guy could easily win Mr. Pompous Ass of the year.

The last thing Max wants is to offer Aggie a job. The woman, a mixture of bizarre and annoying, has gone through at least a half-dozen employers this year already. He might’ve promised Grandmother he’d hire her, but if Aggie doesn’t take it because he’s more than a little un-charming, that won’t be his fault. After all, his company is on the brink of making a major land acquisition, and the last thing he needs is a screw-up as a personal assistant.

With neither of them willing to disappoint their grandmothers, the interview becomes the stuff of legends, and somehow, before either can blink, they’re suddenly stuck working together.

Aggie’s determined the only way out is to be the worst assistant ever and get fired…

Max knows his grandmother would kill him if he fired Aggie, so he’ll just have to be so awful she quits…

But what happens next, no one could have seen coming.

Title:  Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass
Series:
Author:  Lisa Wells
Genre:  Romance
Published:  July 19, 2021
Publisher:  Entangled
My Rating:  3.5 stars

I’m a bit torn on Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass.  There were parts of this story that I absolutely adored, namely the matchmaking grandmothers.  And other parts where I really wanted to give up on Aggie or Max ever finding a way to that expected happy ending.  Of course, there were outside influences involved here as well, mainly Max’s father (oh, if only I could have reached into the book to tell that jerk what I thought of him).

In all, this story was good, I’m certain there is an audience that will love it – but I was just okay with this story because I couldn’t really like either main character.  I need to at least like a character, need to want to see a change or something good come out of their actions within the story.

Most of what you really need to know before picking up Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass can be found in the cover description.  The story that follows is full of likable characters trying to get two unlikable characters together for a job and perhaps for a lifetime.  Aggie was so over the top, well, horrible to Max.  I understood that part of her actions was intended to ensure that he’d fire her so they didn’t have to work together, but there were times when I felt she crossed a line.  Max, well, he needed to cut daddy dearest loose and become his own man, in my opinion.  Through misunderstandings, both naturally occurring and on purpose, Max and Aggie will eventually find their way to each other.  It’s simply an… interesting journey to get to that point.

This was a 3.5 star read for me, I’ll round-up at the appropriate locations.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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