Title: Virtually Impossible Author: Lauren Stewart
Series: Once and Forever #2
Release date: July 5, 2016
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 293
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
Sara has a kick-ass life—loyal friends, a house in San Francisco, and an amazing job as a virtual assistant. It's perfect…except that Sara doesn’t actually exist. She’s just a borrowed name that Andi Clark hides behind. Using a fake identity lets Andi stay safely shielded behind the screen of her computer and concealed from the real world. With her history, pretending to be someone she’s not is the only way Andi can make up for the mistakes of her past. Not exactly ideal, but hey, no one’s life is perfect.
Actually...
Hayden Bennett’s life is pretty damn perfect. He’s married to a beautiful woman, lives in a luxury apartment, and is prepped to take over the multi-million dollar company his father built. Perfect...except that his wife is madly in love with someone else, his career is meaningless, and he’s forgotten how to live, let alone be happy. But when Hayden hires a new virtual assistant named Sara, her sharp wit and intelligence leaves him wanting something more. Something real. Something incredible.
Two people need to wake up to understand how perfect they are...for each other. If they can't, any chance either of them have of finding a happily ever after will be virtually impossible.
“The last thing I needed to know was that Hayden Bennett was anything more than what he let me know. He could keep his secrets, and I’d keep mine. After all, our relationship would be a temporary, purely professional one.”
Andi is a young woman with very few friends in life. A few years ago her then-boyfriend used her love for him to help him (unknowingly) do wrong. And while he and his friends are paying the price for their actions, so is Andi. As a result, she stays away from normal life, keeps a distance between herself and other people. As a virtual assistant Andi works from behind her computer, without actual contact with her clients. New client Hayden isn’t who she thinks he is, and slowly their relations starts to change, becoming more personal over time. And soon, Andi can’t stop thinking of him.
“What? I couldn’t hear you.’ ‘You mean, you chose not to listen,’ I wrote. ‘Still can’t hear you. It’s very loud in here.’ Damn it. I wish I didn’t enjoy this so much. He was my client, and clients were always off the menu. Unfortunately, he was also funny and smart and basically every woman’s wet dream.”
Hayden is a loyal man who buries himself in his work, giving up isn’t something he does. He knows his marriage to his wife isn’t as it should be, but Hayden doesn’t want to face reality and give up. Due to his own assistant being on maternity leave and his collegues assistants are busy enough, the decision is made to hire a virtual assistant for him. After Hayden has gotten used to Andi and the way of contact, he starts to feel different around her, more alive than in a long time. The inevitable has to happen; Hayden needs to meet Andi in real life.
“In my mind, she was pretty but not beautiful, average height, not particularly thin or particularly large. Yes, I wanted to meet her. Very much. If only to see if I was right. Right. If that were the sole reason, I might have been able to stop myself from typing what I did next. ‘I really need to meet you in person.”
Working together through modern communication tools works for Hayden and Andi, once he gets the gist they talk a lot, and not only about work. Somewhere between their normal, work-related conversations the professional lines slowly begin to blur. The conversations get more personal, although both Andi as Hayden keep personal secrets from each other. Meeting in real life changes everything between the couple, and all gets real. After some confusion and heartbreak – when all is out in the open – Hayden and Andi finally have a chance at something real and lasting.
Virtually Impossible is my first read by Lauren Stewart, and I was curious going in; for the storyline (I’m not a big fan of cheating) and for the writing itself. Gladly, I wasn’t disappointed. It took me a bit to get used to the authors voice, but I’ve ended up liking it. Also, I liked the main characters a lot; both where mature people who knew what their problems where and owned them. Only, the communication between them could have been better; less assumptions and jumping to conclusions, more actually talking to each other. What I also must say, I really like Hayden’s wife, Clare. She wasn’t who I thought she would be, and I felt sorry for her.
“She helped me realize that everything wasn’t fine. It had never been fine and, if I continued living my life the way I was, it never would be fine. Because now…now I want more than fine.” He finally turned to face me. “I want you. I want us. I want a chance at a life I’ve never even dreamed of.”
I like Virtually Impossible; I give this book 4 stars. I’ll definitely pick up the next book in the series.
~~ Virtually Impossible was provided in exchange for an honest review ~~
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