Zoey Castile returns to her aptly named Happy Endings series with Hired, in which two people learn that sometimes you have to break a few rules for the sake of finding true love.
Aiden Rios was supposed to be spending a week in New Orleans as an escort to a married woman. Unfortunately, she bailed, and now he’s celebrating his 25th birthday alone. While nursing his disappointment at a hotel bar by drinking one too many hurricanes, he meets Faith Charles. Their attraction is immediate, and one night gives way to yummy brunches, New Orleans sightseeing and so much more. But with Aiden contracted through the week to his married lover and Faith being the daughter of a popular mayoral candidate, their romance is riddled with complications.
Aiden is in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. A bad business decision caused him to jeopardize the male revue show he was part of with his friends, and he isn’t quite sure how to repair those relationships. While his original client, Ginny, hired him for a week of fun in New Orleans, issues with her husband caused her to leave Aiden hanging, an important detail that he keeps from Faith.
Meanwhile, Faith’s anxiety and stress have reached a new high while working on her mother’s campaign. Her relationship with her mom is strained at best, and she feels like every slight action is harshly judged. All she wants is her mother’s love and acceptance, though she fears those things are out of her reach. The way Aiden and Faith find a moment’s respite in one another is incredibly sweet. While they have some sizzling chemistry, they also genuinely like each other. It’s impossible not to smile when they’re together, especially when they’re flirting over a delicious stack of banana chocolate chip pancakes.
Hired is also a love letter to New Orleans. It’s imbued with drool-worthy food descriptions and portrays the city’s fascinating dichotomy between historic locations and humid bayous. Even if you’ve never been, you’ll feel like you can taste the warm beignets coated in powdered sugar and feel the thick heat of the afternoon sun on your neck.
Faith knows that being seen with Aiden could be a problem, both for her mother’s mayoral race and her own fractured familial relationship. Aiden has his own set of rules when it comes to women, knowing that attachments only breed more problems. But the two of them just fit, and despite the fallout from bending and breaking these rules, they’re willing to take a chance to see if it’s all worth it.
With a contemporary romance series that just keeps getting better, Castile is becoming a surefire bet for readers in search of adorable, emotionally fluent romances that will undoubtedly trigger a happy cry or two.
