Magic at Work

Fated Lovers, Book 1

By: Sotia Lazu

Narrated by: Hollie Jackson

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

She thought he hated her. He thought she was too good for him. Fate proved them both wrong.

Lexi Adams suffers from extreme job dissatisfaction. The only things she finds challenging are the sexy IT guy and the online erotic romance novels she discovers, starring her spitting image. Unfortunately the man is insufferable and the novel accessible only at work.

Aware that Lexi's workload doesn't meet her potential, Ric Ackart, head of the IT department, decides to find out what she does in front of her computer screen all day. His surprise at what he finds is overshadowed by the fact that the novel's leading man shares his face and the name he used years ago.

Despite their stubbornness, the two can't deny the explosive chemistry between them. Ric is forced to come to terms with his feelings, but Lexi isn't willing to give him more than her body.

An unlikely ally and a touch of magic may be just what Lexi needs to accept the gift fate has thrown her way - true love.

©2013 Sotia Lazu (P)2016 Sotia Lazu

sexy office romance with a tiny dash of paranormal

Magic at Work was a very cute enemy to lovers, sexy office romance with a tiny dash of paranormal. The magical element worked well even for somebody who is not really into this genre.

Lexi has trust issues and feels insecure. After a failed relationship, she is working in her stepdad's company. She has settled for mundane work. She has settled for sex rather than love. One day, she finds an erotic paranormal novel on her office computer and becomes totally captivated by it. Ric is the company's IT guy who used to be a bit of a bad boy but is now reformed thanks to Lexi's stepdad. He also appears to be Rex, the hot male protagonist in Lexi's online novel.

Sotia Lazu once again showed that she can write erotic scenes with just the right steaminess factor. I like that she keeps it classy rather than swerving towards smutty. She created a great cast of protagonists and side characters. Lexi's Mum and her stepdad were wonderful. The snarky banter between Lexi and Ric/Rex was hilarious.

Overall, I really enjoyed the narration by Hollie Jackson. She was great at delivering the humor and all the emotions involved. Her narration was lively and the voices distinct, so you always knew who was talking. The only thing that took me a while to get used to were the British accents used for Ric and for Lexi's stepdad. They would have been more believable if they had been a bit more dimmed, not quite so much like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. There were no issues with the quality of the production.

This was a really funny, light and romantic story, which was well written and held my attention throughout. Recommended for any fans of contemporary sexy romances who don't mind a hint of magic.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Modern Day Fairy Tale!

Wow…What a FANTASTIC story! Magic at Work has a very unique plot! It is like a modern day fairy tale; funny, sweet, steamy, and hopelessly romantic. The more I listened, the more I was absolutely captivated.

Some spoilers/teasers:
Lexi has recently went to work for her stepfather; however, her new position is not challenging enough for her skill set, and she feels she is being under utilized. In addition, the head IT guy acts like he has a chip on his shoulders, and she eventually finds herself with free time on her hands. Putting her extra free time to good use, she surfs the internet, and stumbles across a steamy and captivating paranormal romance story.

After a few chapters, she finds herself enthralled with the story, and by the end of her shift, she copies the book to take home to continue reading it. However, later that night when she tries to access the story, and receives an error message. In order for her to finish the story, she will have to read it at work.

Ric knows Lexi acts busy at her desk but is curious to see what she actually does all day, and is shocked to learn, she has been reading a PNR who's characters oddly appear to have a lot in common with Lexi and Ric. When he confronts her, they soon find themselves giving in to their hidden desires for each other, and role playing! These scenes are HOT!

Lexi and Ric go from hostile co-workers to steamy lovers, but Ric wants more; however, Lexi's past prevents her from opening up to Ric. As she reads this mysterious online novel, she learns about herself, her true feelings, and what she wants from their relationship.

This is a magical tale full of humor, steamy sex scenes, true love, and a HEA. I gave it an overall 4.5 stars!

I've listened Hollie Jackson narrate other stories, and as usual she delivers a great performance.

I received a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Magic at Work

Any additional comments?

Light, fun and entertaining .
Liked the concept of the story.

While the story was a fun and easy listen it took me a while to get into this book, didn’t really get interested until about an hour in. There was just something missing for me. This was not one of those books I rushed back to in order to find out what was going to happen next.

Steamy sex scenes. If you don't like a lot sex in your books this is not the book for you.

Loved Ric's character, Lexi was just likable.
Two stubborn people Lexi Adams and Ric Ackart are each dealing with their own issues, with a little magical help, a bit of humor and a lot of sex they find their HEA.

Hollie Jackson did a good job with the narration. Nice voice easy on the ears. Loved the accent she gave to Ric. Wouldn’t really call it a British accent but it fit his character. Great timing with the humorous parts of the story.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Love the cockney accent

This was a cute story, a nice easy listen. Although there was romantic drama, it was nothing too intense (except the sex); basically just a sweet love story with a couple of twists. However, I though that the narration by Hollie Jackson was great and made the story so much more. Her characterization of Rex was great. I'm curious to see if there will be more in this series as I was intrigued by Angie and Sarah and would like to find out more of their witchy ways --- Is there a pantheon of lesser gods who aid the witches in other endeavors? There seemed to be a lot of back story to Lexi's step-father and her mother that was intriguing as well.

Worth the listen and, more to the point, worth your time. I was given a free copy of this narration for an honest review.

Sweet hate to love story

What made the experience of listening to Magic at Work the most enjoyable?

The characters are witty and engaging, and fun to listen to as the banter back and forth, but they are also stubborn and aggravating at times too.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Magic at Work?

I enjoyed the moment that the H decides to engage her by playing into the fantasy.

What about Hollie Jackson’s performance did you like?

She had good comedic timing, and expressive accurately on the emotion the characters are portraying as the story moves along. She wasn't great at the British accent, but it wasn't the worst I've heard, and you can determine who is talking well enough.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How I hate to love you.

Any additional comments?

Though this story does have moments of magical or supernatural occurrences, they are so small and limited that it wasn't really a huge driving point in the story. The whole magic aspect of the book could be removed and the majority of the storyline would still work without it with a little tweaking. This story was more about enemies to lovers. The magical parts of the storyline added a fun and lighthearted feel to the over all story. The thing that I like most about these characters are that they are flawed, and a great deal of their behavior is driven by their past hurts or insecurities, and though there are moments that you might want to yell at them to being stubborn, or self sabatoging, it makes them feel more realistic, and human. They both struggle with different things from their past, and they both overcome those things at different points in the story. Because of that one character is ready to move forward, and spends a lot of time attempting different ways to pull the other character out of their well guarded shell. It makes for some entertaining moments, and leads to a lot of sex, as a way to connect to each other whIke they are coming to terms with how they feel, and facing their insecurities both together are separately. It was a story that has a HEA, and it was able to be pretty upbeat and realistic throughout the storyline with the exception of the magical elements throughout the storyline as few as they were. I would recommend this book if you are looking for an easy and light read and you won't mind the occasional stubborn and denial driven moments the characters have. I was gifted this book by the author for my unbiased review.

Great listen!

I don't do paranormal, but I was offered this book in exchange for my unbiased review by Audiobook Boom and took a chance.

It was a delightfully sweet and flirty listen for me without being paranormal/fantasy enough to bother me, it was like a sexy, fun read with paranormal waved over the top. Just enough.

I really enjoyed it, I didn't hit pause at all and my day flew by!

The narrator... Really good until she does the British accent. Sounds like Mary Poppins (think, "top of the mornin' gov'na!").

It was Ok

This book was a struggle for me to keep reading/listening too. Story was good, but at times it was missing the emotion (and it might be just the narrator) or maybe had too much at times... sounds confusing but I feel that all consume you spark was missing...

Great performance and good plot

I love how the couple works through their issues and how it explains things along the way. It is a good plot has you wondering what will happen next. Narrator does a great job also.
#AudioBookObsession

Cute office romance!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise sounds so good! I just didn't think it was executed all that well. Lexi is kind of down on her luck and she's working for her stepdad. She randomly finds a sexy book on her computer and starts reading it. The IT guy at her work is kind of a jerk but also hot... we all know where this goes right? It's an office romance/enemies to lovers. And the more I think about it the more I am changing my mind and liking it. It was cute and I absolutely recommend it.

Hollie Jackson is one of my favorite narrators and as always she did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life.

#audiobookobsessionreviewer

Fated Lovers

I really enjoyed this hot and cold slow romance. Lexi has been burned by love and no longer believes. Can a true romantic make her see the light. This workplace romance has plenty of humor and misconceptions. The narration was really good and this was an easy listen.

Fun, Witty and amazing story with a HEA

Loved this story! Humorous, With two people that were burned in the past come together on an unexpected yet amazing way. For those of us that love books, romance, a sexy British accent and a HEA this is the book for you!!

Nice

It was the first time for me listening to this author, it was a good story although I found it a little bit long to come to the happy ever after conclusion.

It was also my first listen to Hollie Jackson, she did great work and I look forward to listen to her again.

🎧AOR

Computer love

This book was not what I thought it was going to be like. Lexi just left a horrible relationship and moved back in with her mom and stepdad. Rex/Rick was a hurt soul who just wanted to be lived. Will Lexi open up and let Rick love her? The narrator did an amazing job on the American accent, but the britches accent could use some help.

Stubbornness

This heroine shows lots of stubbornness which may prevent her own true happiness. I do like how the magic was such an underlying factor, but yet we still get a taste of the paranormal world mixed with a real life like situation. Hollie really brought these characters to life, and her accents were great.
🎧AudiobookObessionReviewer

Computer Magic

This was a funny in a corny way. The fact that Lexi finds this sexy hot romance book that can on be read on the office computer and the characters reminder her of her and the her office nemesis Rick. They both want each other but don't want to admit it. This is your typical office feud to office romance, but I still enjoyed the story.

🎧 AudiobookObsession

Quite different

This book was gifted to me by the author in exchange for an honest review via audiobook blast

My first by this author

laughed and loved the secret read whilst working very common practise ....lol

The concept of this story is a wonderful weave of sex, confusion, I love the play on a novel within a novel to bring the two main characters into a sexual intimacy early on ie someone is being naughty after hours and she hasn't the sense to check for any co-workers. Luckily, he's a gentleman. Sort of.

Nicely,written and intriguing, the author's ability to capture emotion and conflict flowing easily through subtle characterisation.

Hollie did a nice job narrating the story , and has made me want to check out her other work

thanks

Delighfully funny and sexy!

With quirky humour and cringe worthy moments, this story is filled with interesting, baggage carrying characters and sexy moments. Sotia Lazu has successfully knitted together the everyday working natures of the characters with fantasy versions of themselves, adding depth to the plot. I enjoyed listening to the book. Pure fantasy laced escapism.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.