Very early in the book, the characters are attracted to each other like two magnets. Even if they try to respect the rules for like two minutes, McCord uses each scene to get Ainsley and Hollis closer, and I loved it. I love when authors really show me what makes two people click, with a good balance of talks and acts of love, and McCord nailed it. I definitely felt the chemistry. The book was easy to read and perfectly paced.

There are just two things that did not sit right with me. The first one is the cover; Ainsley is supposed to have auburn hair, and it seems she dyed it for the cover. The second is the resolution of the conflict was a bit frustrating because Hollis didn't own her part in the fight and was a bit too much in her own way.

Overall, this book definitely made me want to read more of this author.

An office romance isn't usually my first pick but they can be quite good when executed well. This one had potential and it definitely wasn't bad but it did have its flaws.

Hollis has a good thing going on at work with her co-worked turned friend Harrison. She is on her way for her 3-year-plan to become a reality. She just needs to stay focused.

Ainsley turns all of the plans Hollis had upside down. I don't mind a little conflict and the premise of will they won't they was good and even cute at first but it got kind of tired soon. Ainsley keeps saying one thing and then doing another. And not just once or twice but several times. I don't get how Hollis didn't get whipplash from all of the back and forth because I sure did.

They had cute scenes together and the side characters added to the story but there was too much back and forth for me to really enjoy their journey as a couple.

An ARC was given to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

i'm a sucker for a good workplace romance, so i was really excited to dive into this arc. one thing i really appreciated was the short chapters, they made it super easy to get through, and i found myself saying "just one more chapter" way too many times.

as for the plot, there was plenty of workplace drama, which i totally ate up. office tension, policy issues, boss/employee dynamics – all right up my alley.

that said, i had a few issues that pulled me out of the story. early on, both main characters were described as "ice queens," but honestly, i didn't really see that in their actions or personalities. it felt like a case of telling rather than showing, which made it harder for me to buy into their initial character setup.

it also took me a while to feel the chemistry between the leads. it wasn't instant for me, but eventually, it started to click.

my biggest gripe, though, was the third-act breakup. the miscommunication trope can work if it's well executed, but in this case, it felt a little forced. like, ainsley could've just said, "someone else recommended you, not me," and that would've cleared everything up. it made the conflict feel unnecessary and the resolution a bit flat.

all that said, it was still an okay read overall. not perfect, but enjoyable – especially if you're into workplace romance and some juicy office drama.

i received an arc from netgalley and bold strokes books and all opinions are my own.

Thanks to the publisher Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a sapphic workplace romance, it's a quick and well paced read. The spice was just right, the banter is perfect, the angst is there but not overpowering. A perfect sit down read to enjoy in a day!

4.5 ⭐️

Hollis has her sights set on success, determined to climb the corporate ladder with a carefully crafted three-year plan. Love, she decides, will only slow her down, but her resolve begins to waver the moment she meets her new boss. I personally love a forbidden workplace romance, but this fell a little short for me. My biggest gripe is probably the fact that the love interest, Ainsley, was a little belittling or condescending here and there. While not a huge deal, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Solid for a debut novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really good book to read. The work place romance between the main characters made this everything i like about workplace romances and this book checked all the boxes! The intimate scenes were hot and the tension between them was fantastic! There's some drama and angsty moments to keep it from being too sweet and uncomplicated, but I like a good second act breakup and the drama behind it was pretty good. This book kept me engaged from beginning to the end and I wound highly recommend it. Looking forward to what's next from this author.

4/5 🌟

Thank you NetGalley, Kel McCord and Bold Strokes Books for this ARC!

This was a very enjoyable read. Two women who meet in the most complicated circumstances trying to make sense of their feelings, falling harder and harder for each other <b> and </b> without homophobia as its main complication? Sign me in.

I loved it and it was very well narrated. Perfect for a pallet cleanser and to unwind! I love sapphic romances and this one was genuinely a joy!

This was a strong concept and was engaged with the world and romance element that I was looking for and enjoyed from this type of book. The characters were everything that I wanted from this type of book and was engaged with what was happening to them. Kel McCord has a strong writing style and enjoyed how everything worked with the characters and this storyline.

This book was a solid sapphic workplace romance! I appreciated the characters and enjoyed the journey. Medium spice in a way that felt authentic to both the characters and the plot

Thank you to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books and author Kel McCord for this ARC opportunity! Happy to share my honest review.

Uncomplicate It was fun, sexy and wonderfully entertaining. I really enjoyed this book. This debut by Kel McCord was a hit for me and I will most certainly look for more from her in the future. I love a good ole complicated office romance and this book definitely delivered. Hollis and Ainsley were fire together and it was a joy to follow their journey…bumpy as it may have been. McCord delivered on a fun plot with pretty layered characters. I was engaged the entire time and never got bored. That’s a winner for me.

We meet Hollis, a career driven young woman who has been in more than a few failed relationships. Her career often takes priority and suffice it to say that her romantic life has taken a back seat. After her most recent relationship fails she decides to take a beat, so to speak, and regroup. She fully intends to focus on her career and herself, leaving matters of the heart to remain on the back burner. But when she meets Ainsley she is instantly attracted and certainly intrigued so, naturally, all bets are off. That is until she meets her new boss at work which is, yes you guessed it, Ainsley! Ha! Let the antics ensue!

What follows is a very angsty “will they or won’t they” or more like “Will they, when will they” read and I am all about it. Hollis and Ainsley are extremely attracted to each other and their chemistry is off the charts. But…well…technically they are at work and technically Ainsley is Hollis’s superior so they try to keep it professional. I could predict that there was no keeping their desire for one another under control and thank goodness for that! I was in the mood for a super spicy page turner and that's what I got in Uncomplicate It. The steamy scenes were oh so hot! And adding in the element of secrecy and sneaking around made it all the more juicy. I was often reading wide eyed, smiling and a bit shocked they weren’t found out. I will say the power dynamic issue may not have been addressed in a satisfactory way. Ainsley is, after all, Hollis’s boss so technically she has the upper hand when suggesting the friends with benefits arrangement to obfuscate the company rules. But for me, this was a non issue because I really read the book as a “colleagues who couldn’t keep their hands off each other” sort of thing.
I was never off put by Ainsley and never felt like she was taking advantage of Hollis. In fact, they managed to display a healthy level of consideration and respect for each other throughout. The obstacles were plentiful but our girls made their way through and relatively unscathed. Their relationship grows organically and they develop a real connection that is believable and realistic.

The writing was fun, humorous and flirty. I felt the pacing was quick and the angst was kept to a relative minimum. I was happily entertained and engaged until the end. The characters were flawed, likeable and realistic. I was certainly rooting for them all along. The book moves quickly and though there is a bit of predictability it still feels like a unique and fun take on the taboo office romance trope. Ainsley and Hollis were great together. They choose each other and fight for their Happily Ever After! Very cute! I would absolutely recommend this spicy and fun sapphic office romance!

Uncomplicate It is a sapphic workplace romance where the chemistry is real and the stakes are high. Hollis loves her job, and after a messy workplace relationship went south, she vowed not to date another coworker. When her best friend and work colleague drags her to a spin class she is vehemently against, the cute brunette spin instructor asks her out and Hollis thinks maybe dating casually could be good for her, especially with the stress of a new boss at the company where she works looms over her. But to her surprise, when she steps into a meeting at work one day and discovers her new boss is the same cute spin instructor who asked her out, she knows things are about to get complicated again. Why? Because the two women can’t stay away from each other.

As far as sapphic romances go, I really enjoyed this book! The pacing was great, the chemistry between Hollis and Ainsley was there from the start and their pull to each other felt realistic and natural. I liked Harrison and felt that he could have been used more to help further the plot because once the relationship begins, he sort of falls to the back burner. I also thought the ex popping up in certain situations was funny and added to the drama the messiness of Hollis and Ainsley. I felt for both women and I think one thing that could have strengthened this story a little more would have been a few chapters from Ainsley’s perspective. I don’t think every contemporary romance needs to be dual POV narrative but in the case of this book, it would have added to the depth of the relationship between the two women.

This book also had some great spice and the balance between the spice, the romance and the two women just spending time with one another was really well done. Overall, it was a really fast and enjoyable read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books, Inc. for an ARC of this novel!

I received an ARC and am writing this review voluntarily.

This is a great debut novel - it has legs. When I first started, I thought, the premise is so familiar, nothing here will surprise me. But the author did surprise me, with fresh context like the fitwear concept and the way the story jumped straight to sparks at the first sign of attraction. Well, maybe not the first sign, but still within just a few interactions.

Now, I want to say something that some people may not like - it’s about a character. I did not, truly and honestly, like Harrison. I know, I know… plenty of readers may have liked him. But hear me out. Harrison annoyed and irritated me every single time he was on the page. He came across as selfish, not working as hard as Hollis, and handing off most of the workload to her despite being from the same department. He seemed to get irritated whenever he wasn’t the center of attention or included in something. And Hollis’s parents were always talking about him or asking about him - I’m still not sure why. Overall, he just got under my skin in the worst way.

The other characters, though, were much more lovable, which, given the length of the book, which is enough, there aren’t many apart from a few like Miranda. Jaydee and Megan were a breath of fresh air after enduring Harrison’s friendship.

The pacing of the story felt a bit too fast for me. I think the attraction between the main characters could have used more simmering and pining to make it feel fully believable.

That said, this is an author I would love to read more from in the future.

Hollis is a 30 year old woman who works in a sportswear company with her office bestie, Harrison. Harrison is definitely a flirt and his newest crush is the spin instructor Greg. He asks Hollis to accompany him to class to see Greg, but that day, Greg had asked his gorgeous friend Ainsley to substitute him. Ainsley and Hollis are immediately attracted to each other and, after class, Ainsley asks Hollis out. They don’t set up a date as of yet but they plan to soon.

Harrison and Hollis built the HQ 2 division from the ground up, without proper supervision and the division is successful. However, the main headquarters, HQ 1, wants to bring a new boss in to standardize the practices and reign in the Wild West, as HQ 2 was being called. The main problem is that boss is Ainsley, and now that date definitely can’t happen, or can it? Can they fight their attraction or will they just have to deal with the consequences?

For me, the most enjoyable part of the book was beginning on 80% and onwards but that’s just because I’m a sucker for angst with a happy ending. The chapters were short and the storyline was simple enough to follow. For a book called Uncomplicate It, the situations they got into were quite complicated, I was honestly surprised they didn’t get caught.

I enjoyed that Hollis got to experience many firsts with Ainsley, including letting go of control and her wishes actually being heard and respected. The characters didn’t feel childish or badly written and I’m glad we could still see their outbursts despite showing emotional maturity for the most part.

If you like office or workplace romance, quite a bit of smut and many sports references, then this is definitely the book for you.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Uncomplicate It tells the story of Hollis and Ainsley. Their meet-up is cute, if it does strain credulity a bit. Then of course there is the complication of Ainsley turing out to be Hollis’s new boss, and their fighting against this.

For most of the book, this is an interesting interplay of the will-they-and-when variety, but it’s when the complications come in that it doesn’t seem to work quite as well. There is the ex who is only there to throw a wrench in the works (if in a different ways than I was expecting), but what didn’t work for me most of all was the work complication and Ainsley’s solution to it AND how people (including her family) react to Hollis’s reaction. McCord here falls into a common trap with romance writers, and it’s seeming to designate someone as the person in the wrong and sticking with it, despite evidence to the contrary. I believe Hollis’s issue (other than the communication, which is a two-way street, and remember Ainsley is the boss) is not an incorrect one to have, and her acquiescence doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me.

For most of the novel I enjoyed the back and forth between the two characters, and that was enough for me to enjoy the book overall, but I feel like there was a real fumble in the back half of the book.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for this eARC!!

I cannot believe this is the first book of this amazing author!
I loved it, from the beginning until the end! The journey of it was incredible.

The book delivers a story about two women, Hollis and Ainsley, who fall for each other, but their work positions (boss-employee) make it difficult and almost impossible for their relationship to develop.

The story itself is fun, cute, engaging, and well written! I laughed, loved, and cried over it. The characters are amazing, and the author made them unique, leaving me with different feelings about each one. Now talking about our main characters, I loved both of them, they're personalities are so compatible and adorable, which makes them a perfect couple, but I have to say that I fell more in love with Ainsley, I grew more and more fond of her with each chapter.

There is a lot of spicy scenes, the teasing, dirty talk, and the actual scenes were on point, making it more fun to read. So if you're into that, I think you will enjoy this one a lot!

I'm already looking forward to the next book!

I totally recommend this if you are into boss-employee, forbidden romance and spicy settings! <33

In Uncomplicate It, Hollis is a workaholic who is just out of a long term relationship. She attends a spin class with her friend and co-worker Harrison and meets the gorgeous spin instructor, Ainsley, who asks her out after the class. However, before they can have their first date the following weekend Hollis learns that Ainsley is her new boss. What comes next is the struggle between their mutual attraction and corporate protocol on interoffice relationships, particularly between managers and their direct reports.

McCord does a great job of addressing the problematic situation of the boss/employee relationship. It's not just a side part of the story and it is something that plays out all the time in the real world. I appercitate that the conversations between the MCs seem genuine and natural, like I'm just overhearing normal conversations that isn't over dramatized or immature for the ages of the characters. This kept me from doing the slight eye roll that can happen when a book gets a little to "tropey". Seriously, well done.

I would have loved to see how the story was unfolding from Ainsely's POV, because McCord did a great job of making her likable and alluring all in one, so I found myself wondering what more was going on in her head. This read sets a high bar for debut novels. Looking forward to seeing what McCord writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC of this book!

*This review contains very mild spoilers*

Uncomplicate It is a sapphic office romance between Hollis, a 30 year old supply chain manager, and Ainsley, a 35 year old who's just been brought in to manage the West Coach branch of the company that Hollis works for. They have a lil meet cute at spin class before Ainsley's first day at the office, and then try to resist their attraction to each other before starting a secret "situationship" (they call it friends with benefits but it is so clearly an actual relationship that at times I was nearly banging my head against the wall because of the intense mental gymnastics Hollis was doing to convince herself that they were not acting like girlfriends - babe you told her you wanted to be EXCLUSIVE FRIENDS).

I thought their relationship was really sweet and I liked that it did seem like Ainsley really wanted to support Hollis, especially when it came to helping Hollis with running (although I do wish we could have actually seen Hollis run her marathon!) but their relationship also definitely had some flaws; namely, their communication. Nearly every conflict the two had could have been easily resolved if they had just sat down and laid everything on the table. That being said, I appreciate that the make-up included Hollis saying that they needed to fix their communication if they were gonna make things work, and both of them resolving to be better.

Overall I felt like this book was pretty solid, and I think it'll be a great read for lovers of office romances, having ice cream delivered straight to your home, and women protagonists who don't have to choose between love or a successful career.

When Hollis is asked on a date by her hot spin instructor the last thing she expects is for her to be her new boss at work. I love a workplace romance and this book was no exception. Hollis and Ainsley had sizzling chemistry throughout their forbidden romance.
The book is told in a single POV which allowed for drama and some unexpected turns of events. There was miscommunication between the characters, but the single POV made interesting and had me racing through the pages to get to the conclusion

Hollis has decided to focus on work after a messy break up. Hollis then meet Ainsley, a hot spin instructor who ask her out she wasn’t going to say no because she thought she wouldn’t see her again. Hollis is shock when Ainsley turns out to be her new boss as they work together Hollis is surprise because Ainsley isn’t her type but they both decides to be casual because Hollis tends go all in and windup getting hurt and company policy regarding not allowing a relationship between managers other authority. I enjoy this read because it’s took time with the relationship the love scenes were hot the characters were enjoyable to get know.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Uncomplicate it is rarely uncomplicated as much the characters wish it to be. This is a minor spoiler review, keep that in mind when reading. This is a strong debut in my opinion! I kept wanting to read it despite some nitpicking points.

The story is told single POV from Hollis' perspective as a corporate supply chain manager with her friend and coworkers Harrison - who steals the show anytime he appears in the story. Hollis' appears to have control issues when fully holding onto short term and long term plans.

She goes into an overly complicated "situationship" with her boss Ainsley. Together they're so good for each other. The sexual scenes actually show character traits as Hollis finds herself on the more submissive side with an older partner and we learn about Ainsley to be kind of pushing the whole time but not in a bad way. But the out-of bedroom intimacy between the two of them is also really good until it isn't because plot.

It looked like there was going to be more subplot of Ainsley helping Hollis improve in multiple areas of her life: sexually, physical sports and in her career but that kind of dead ended. Not sure if this is to showcase Hollis not adapting but it felt like the author could have expanded on these interactions. It lacked depth.

It also would have been good to have increased communication or at least mention the lack of communication at an earlier stage in the story.

I almost wish to see an Ainsley point of view to have more of her background and her struggles during the story.

Overall I enjoyed the book but it felt short for all that could have been explored!

I hope to read more from Kel soon! Thanks Net Galley for the early ARC read!