Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Employing Patience
SERIES: Divorced Men’s Club, Book 4
AUTHOR: Saxon James
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: May Books
LENGTH: 7 hours and 2 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2023
BLURB:
Art: When it comes to regrets, I have none. My life is perfect. I own a bar, work hard, party harder, and smother my niblings in all the love they deserve. I don’t need to settle down, as much as my sister might want me to.
But then, Joey Manning walks into my office and leaves me all but begging to give him a job, and wanting to give him so much more.
The self-professed straight man is in my head, and while I know that I need to move on from him, my body isn’t getting that message. It doesn’t help that Joey is a grade A flirt who can banter with the best of them.
I’ve never had regrets. Not until Joey Manning.
Joey: The bills keep piling up, and the pressure to get my sisters through college before we’re evicted is always on the back of my mind. Whoever said life was for living, clearly forgot that living’s expensive.
My default mode is stressed AF and working myself to the bone, and there’s only one person who gives me a break from all that.
Art de Almeida.
My boss.
The one man I shouldn’t flirt with, but I can’t seem to stop. I want to get under his skin. To leave him panting for me. Which wouldn’t be such a bad thing, except that he thinks I’m straight, and I’ve never bothered to correct him.
I need this job.
But some days, I worry that I need Art more.
REVIEW:
Art turns out to be a very different person from what I expected based on his appearances in the earlier books in Saxon James’ Divorced Men’s Club series. The discovery of his true nature is the best part of Employing Patience, the fourth book in the series. Admittedly, something about his relationship with Joey irked me – the cat-and-mouse game got old quickly (at least for me). But what kept me invested was Art. James creates him with depth and really showcases the two sides to his personality – the person he truly is but hides away from everyone versus the Art he shows the rest of the world: the playboy, party guy, hookup king who’s a terrific friend but is always listening but never sharing.
Art’s interactions with his niblets will melt you into a puddle. He’s such a teddy bear – seemingly unromantic on the outside when what lives within is deep, soulful actions displaying his love for those few people he’s let in. I didn’t really feel the connection between Art and Joey, and Joey bordered on annoying at times, but I would read this story again just for Art. I love it when the character you know the least about and didn’t expect to like becomes the standout guy you adore.
The connection between Art and Joey feels more palpable when Nick J. Russo voices the story on the Employing Patience audiobook. His skills are undeniable and he is able to breathe life into characters so that they feel fully realized, complete. It’s this aspect that enabled me to relate better to Joey, and consequently, reinforced his connection with Art. Art is still the superstar in this story, and Russo nails his portrayal, making Employing Patience recommended listening.
RATING: 
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