Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  His Assistant

AUTHOR:  Alexa Land

SERIES:  His Chance #3

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  213 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 28, 2020

BLURB:

I knew going to work for movie star and party boy Harper Royce was a mistake.

It was a bigger mistake to sleep with him, but here we are.

At least this situation is temporary. I’m on the verge of a major breakthrough with my musical career, and then my days of working as a personal assistant are over. As long as I don’t fall for Harper, this should all work out just fine.

If only he wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but I can resist a pretty face. When he starts showing me his vulnerable side, though? Well, now I’m in trouble.

This light-hearted, opposites attract gay romance features a spoiled Hollywood A-lister, his long-suffering assistant, and a loopy chicken. It’s set in the world of Alexa Land’s Firsts and Forever and His Chance Series, but it absolutely can be read as a stand-alone.

REVIEW:

Phoenix, Harper, and baby chicken make three.  

His Assistant is not really an M/M romance. It’s more of an M/M/C romance: male, male, and chicken.  And that chicken is Harper’s pet, Loco, who lives in the house and lives up to her name. Some say she’s an Emotional Support Chicken, others (me) think Harper’s the one who should be called loco when it comes to his poultry pampering, parenting behavior. It’s easy to see why he loves her – Loco is precious, if a bit daft, and she and the other chickens – plus three dogs and animal caretaker, Kel – add a great deal of amusement to the book. Wait till you hear where the other chickens live! 

This is a very sweet book and I adored it. I got the warm fuzzies very early on from Phoenix and Harper. There’s an organic quality to their relationship that is very appealing. Along with the adorable Kel, friend Noah, and Harper’s brother Hudson, these are guys I’d enjoy hanging out with. 

I have read oodles of books written by Alexa Land and this is one of my favorites. She has a natural talent for creating worlds with depth and characters, flaws and all. She makes her readers immediately comfortable in her worlds, and her writing is casual and inviting. I would describe it as slice-of-life prose. I feel the His Chance series is particularly grounded and the humor is more subtle than the Dombruso level silliness and capers of the Firsts and Forever series. (I enjoy both styles.) 

I’m very appreciative that Ms. Land goes the extra mile to incorporate enough backstory from her previous novels – without it being an information dump – to bring her new readers up to speed. I can’t stress how important this is to avoid alienating new readers; it’s something many authors fail to do. 

Both Phoenix and Harper were introduced in the previous books of the His Chance series. Harper is an A-list movie star and Phoenix was his personal assistant for about a year. He could barely tolerate the self-centered, man-child, attention whore, though, so he went to work elsewhere. Now, while between jobs, he’s back doing a temporary stint as Harper’s PA again (Harper had to give him a 300% pay raise).  Phoenix is nothing if not professional, but it seems he forgot the cardinal rule: don’t fall for the client. Yup, Phoenix caught Feelings.  

Phoenix and Harper are fully fleshed-out characters. They are flawed and relatable; even though most of us aren’t ultra-wealthy movie stars or insanely talented singer/songwriters, we can recognize something of ourselves in their foibles. Harper is multi-faceted, as I suppose many actors and performers are. Phoenix used to perceive him as obnoxious. To his condescending friends, he’s a total bro dude. In public he’s always on, playing the part of a hot shot movie star. To most, he’s a genuinely nice guy, generous with his time and money. So why doesn’t Phoenix like him? Part of it is jealousy – Harper dated Phoenix’s identical twin brother, Dallas – an uber popular mega star whom Phoenix despises. Day in and day out, he watches his brother living Phoenix’s dream of having a successful singing career, while he’s a lowly PA who can’t seem to get noticed for his music. Although he couldn’t admit it to himself at the time, Phoenix now acknowledges that he had a crush on Harper the last time he worked for him, so the jealousy and hostility, while not acceptable, are understandable. 

Now that he’s back in Harper’s employ, Phoenix sees him in a new light. There are so many ways to describe his boss: beautiful, charismatic, capricious, disorganized, whimsical, slightly insane, chicken-loving, and puppy-like. He’s sometimes childlike and needs attention and reassurance. Phoenix can be most accurately described as a control freak. He’s the antithesis of Harper with his cautious, practical personality and his desire for a monogamous, committed relationship. He is scared and intimidated by their differences, while Harper relishes them. 

Perhaps Phoenix doesn’t know Harper as well as he thinks, because deep down, Harper craves stability and predictability, and needs the comfort of someone to love him and take care of him. He desires more than casual flings. He wants Phoenix. And as their relationship develops, it’s easy to see why Phoenix falls for his boss: he’s sweet, kind, and so solicitous of Phoenix’s needs. 

Of course, Phoenix and Harper are awarded a lovely happily ever after. I suspect (and hope) we’ll be seeing more of Kel and Hudson in the future. Talk about opposites attract! In the meantime, grab His Assistant to be assured a fantastic reading experience. This is a highly recommended, 5 star/heart read. 

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon