Work and Play: A workplace, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, small town romance

Julia Jarrett

Jan 2022 · Julia Jarrett

About this ebook

I’m stuck sharing a house with my hot new boss…And I just walked in on him in the shower.

Landing a major interior design contract for the new winery in Dogwood Cove is supposed to be my fresh start. But sharing a house with the annoyingly sexy winemaker Finn McNeil? That wasn’t part of the plan… 

To make it worse, Finn’s made it very clear he doesn’t want me around - at work, or anywhere else.

I’m determined to win him over with my charm and professionalism. Not only do I need this job, but this town has become more than a place to earn a living, it’s become home.

Which is why giving into the undeniable attraction we feel could spell disaster for both of us. 

Work and Play is the ultimate steamy small town romance for fans of forced proximity, a quirky heroine who knows what she wants, and a winemaker who’s determined to avoid her.This book is for readers who love grumpy-sunshine banter, a dirty talking hero, a close friend group, low angst and high heat with a guaranteed HEA. This is the third book in the Dogwood Cove series and can be read as a standalone, although the series is best enjoyed if read in order.

Ratings and reviews

#Ashlinn for the win 💙💜💚 I always enjoy going back to Dogwood Cove but this trip was my favourite! This story has some really fun push/pull tension between winery owner Finn and his new interior designer Ashley. These two just can't seem to get on the same page when it comes to finding the perfect balance of class, comfort and cost. When unforeseen events throw them into shared accommodations, butting heads at work is the least of their worries. What is a guy to do when this sassy and tempting princess starts befriending everyone he knows and keeps showing up where he least expects her...including his shower? Filled with wonderful imagery and hallmarky-small town feels (think Gilmore Girls meets Chesapeake Shores) Julia once again brings us a story of love, heartache and following your dreams, and even gives us some amazing friends to help and support along the way. As someone who lives in a place surrounded by vineyards and wineries (and has spent a decent amount of time visiting them) I very much enjoyed the setting of this story. This was quite low on the angsty scale with a satisfying wrap up and a really good amount of spice for the length of the book. I feel like this might be her spiciest book I've read so far and I am Here For It ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Finn is definitely going on my #bookboyfriend list!

This is the third book in this amazing series and is Finn and Ashley’s story. Finn is grumpy, stubborn, and sexy, but hidden underneath this façade is a sweet and caring man. Ashley has a huge heart and is caring, and she is an interior designer, who has Finn as her new boss. When they are forced to share an Airbnb there is no escaping each other under the same roof. Finn has met his match with Ashley as she is not afraid to stand up for herself and is determined to prove to Finn that she is perfectly capable of doing her job. This is a well written sweet, fun, and light-hearted read, which is a small-town romance, forced proximity tale, with humor, witty banter, and love, which leads to an entertaining and steamy addictive page turner. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I always highly recommend.

It was so nice to get back to Dogwood Cove, I absolutely adore this small town, it’s a town and a group of people that I would definitely hang with. The characters in this series are just wonderful friendly people, friends who are loyal and would drop everything at the drop of a hat to help each other out. I really liked the snippets we saw in book one and two of Finn so it was really great to finally see inside his head. He is a lovely guy, who has a heart of gold, though he also has some grump in him too haha, though there are reasons for that. Ashley was a welcome member to add to this group of friends, she is a lovely girl, one who needs someplace new to call home, she has definitely landed in the right town for that. Super sweet but sexy read with some added steam for the win. It was a real easy read, one I didn’t want to put down. Thanks for the pleasure ❤️

About the author

Julia Jarrett is a busy mother of two boys, a happy wife to her real-life book boyfriend and the owner of a rescue dog from Guatemala and another one from Taiwan. She lives on the West Coast of Canada and when she isn’t writing contemporary romance novels full of relatable heroines and swoon-worthy heroes, she loves to run, practice yoga, drink wine and read.