It's Not a Date

By: Heather Blackmore

Narrated by: Lori Prince

Falling in love is the hardest business of all.

Entrepreneur and innovator Kadrienne Davenport gets results. A demanding executive and stickler for punctuality, Kade throws herself into work to avoid hurting anyone, convinced she only causes pain to those she loves.

When Jennifer Spencer meets an incognito Kade at a conference, sparks fly. But when Kade unexpectedly becomes her boss, Jen's problems multiply. The company she founded is going broke, her grandmother's dementia is worsening, and her attraction to Kade -- her difficult, brilliant, charismatic mentor -- is growing.

Kade's desire to keep things professional between them is in Jen's best interest. Yet what's in Kade's best interest…is Jen.

©2018 Heather Blackmore (P)2018 Bold Strokes Books, Inc

Wooow!!!!

I love love love this book... this will definitely remain in my library... the flirtatious conversation at the beginning... wooow.. so intelligently written without sounding soo over the top. love the chemistry between the characters... I'm definitely checking out your books.. I hope to be engaged with the story as much as this one.. and Lori Prince is wonderful as the the narrator... perfect fit..

Not a typical romance

It's important to set expectations before picking up this book: this novel isn't just a romance. If you just wanted a light romance read, you might want to pass.

The first few chapters start out pretty normal. The two girls meet in hawaii on business trips. Turns out they're going to the same conference. In the typical romance-novel way, they end up sharing a suite. The next day the conference starts, and Jennifer realizes the girl she's attracted to, Kade, is the main speaker and a big deal in the industry. Fast forward a year. Kade becomes Jennifer's boss by coincidence. So far so normal, but this is where the romance waters start to get cloudy. In addition to the romance, the author takes detours to show about the girls' relationship with their elder family members, discuss jennifer's business (more technical than your typical author), and contemplate the difficulties of being a woman entrepreneur. I wasn't surprised to look up the author on goodreads and find she has a background in start ups. I'm used to the novels where the authors aren't experienced in the field and just graze it enough to set up the plot. You probably know what I'm talking about; novels about everything from computer hacking to soldiers. I was pleasantly surprised to get the impression this author did know a thing or two about the field.

The characters share some conflicts I can relate to, particularly prioritizing work vs personal life and how to forgive people who are jerks. To be honest, from the get-go I was hoping kade would get together with her assistant Holly instead of Jennifer. Holly knows Kade so well and does everything Kade needs, even if Kade doesn't want it. I was glad Holly got something positive at the end. Some of the conflicts are caused by a one-way lack of communication (which was totally her fault). I respected Kade and liked her more of the two, despite jennifer being the "nicer" person.

I listened to the audiobook performed by Lori Prince, who did a fantastic job as always. The male characters don't have a lot of dialogue, and she performs the two girls admirably. Jennifer has the younger voice and Kade is the slightly deeper, mature voice.

good book!

loved it! my favorite one yet. the narrator was great.
Hated to see it end.

Great!

Fantastic narration. Great story with lots of depth and good characterization. Deeper than just a typical romance. I definitely didn't want it to end. Great job.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

How do I love thee...

Let me count the ways...I love these characters, from the minors, to the majors and those in between. The struggle, the sweetness, the patience, the banter, the connection, the love, all set in corporate Silicon Valley. I feel like I learned some about how a start up actually starts up and how venture capitalism works...at least a smidge. The dance between the Kade and Jen is lovely, painful, hopeful, and you can see from the beginning it is absolutely fated. It's a tortuous road to healing the past and we watch Kade as she struggles with her past, with forgiveness and with self love. She is an amazing character, as is Jen in her own way...such a flirt, such a compassionate human being. Not too heavy and definitely not too light, it's an engaging book that I am sad to finish. Lori Prince is magnificent. The first couple of hours of the book I played at 1.25 speed because it felt a little slow to me but later I went back to normal time and it was fine.

This was a great book.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the narrator’s voices and felt the emotions. I loved Jenn’s character - especially when she was baited and realized it. The only downfall - and it almost made me grade it 4 Stars was the ending. I felt like there were parts in the book that could have been shortened, but the ending felt absolutely rushed and incomplete. I felt like there must have been about 5-7 pages missing. But, alas, it is what it is. And overall I really liked the book.

Hawaii wasn't the only hot thing about this story

This was a nice story, not as angsty as some books with similar plots, and surprised me with how quickly and often the mature themes popped up. Goody for us listeners! Lori Prince did a great job with this, it was a joy to listen to, and I'll be looking up more from both the author and the reader!

wonderful

There wasn't anything about this book that I did not enjoy. The characters, the writing, the narrator were absolutely wonderful. One of the best audibles I have bought in a long time, I can't wait to listen to it again.

Nice Audiobook

this was my first Heather Blackmore audiobook. I enjoyed the storyline, the dialogue, and the narration. the only thing I can think to complain about would be how abrupt the ending was but I still smiled. it was really an enjoyable listen.

Lovely distraction

This is a very sweet book with a very good narrator. It will not disappoint. It had some insider moments about silicon valley that were a bit lost on a fly-over resident not familiar with tech firms but the story was very enjoyable. The psychological insights in the book were all-time. You will not regret this purchase. Highly recommend.