Mountain Boss

Mountain Men Series, Book 1

De: S.J. Tilly

Narrado por: Erin Mallon, Connor Crais

Courtney

I’m just so exhausted—always living on the edge of desperation, one paycheck away from ruin.

But this new job…

It could be the fresh start I need.

It could change everything.

The contract is only for three months, but if I keep my head down, work hard, and prove myself, maybe I could stay longer.

Maybe I could make Black Mountain Lodge my home.

As I pull down the gravel drive, surrounded by the forest and mountains and bright blue skies, I feel something I haven’t felt in a while.

I feel hope.

Sterling

My new employee is late.

I’m already in a bad mood about having to train him, still salty about my old guy retiring on me.

But while I’m waiting, a woman pulls up my drive.

A woman straight from my damn dreams.

Curvy and pretty, looking at me with wide eyes framed with sooty lashes.

And suddenly, I’m no longer thinking about my late employee.

But then she opens her mouth and asks for me, introducing herself as Courtney, my new hire.

Courtney. Not Court, like the application said.

And I realize there’s been a mistake.

I can’t have this woman working here. Living on my property. Distracting me. I mean, my staff.

No. She can’t work for me. End of story.

Except she won’t leave. She even threatens to sue me.

Fine. If she won’t let me fire her before she even starts, then I’ll just have to make her leave on her own.

©2025 S.J. Tilly LLC (P)2025 S.J. Tilly LLC

Too many short chapters!

There are waaaay too many way too short chapters! The story and narration is awesome! The short chapters interrupt the natural flow of the scenes and narration. Otherwise, it was great!

DUET SJ Tilly?!?!?!?! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

FINALLY A DUET SJ AUDIOBOOK!! 🤩🤩
Another great SJ Tilly story.
Took me a while to like Sterling (Kind of like how it takes a while to like Vincent/Mr. Sin) but he's great to Courtney. Not too sad, very funny and cute.
Male narrator sounds like Jacob Morgan / Zachary Webber 😛😛

Holy. Freaking. Flannel.

STERLING BLACK. Mountain Boss. Grump. Posessive alphahole. Panty thief. Perfect. Are these not red flags, you ask?

Not when S.J. Tilly knows how to take the aforementioned alphahole and peel back the layers to show us loneliness, longing and need, to give us the soft center he has for one Court... er, Courtney... Kern.

In fairness, he's surrounded all day every day by men. Secluded. Set in his ways. Expecting a strapping new maintenance guy, he's in for the surprise and annoyance of his life... his guy is the woman of his dreams.

Courtney's graduated from the school of hard knocks, and is on her way to a PhD on the subject when this new job falls in her lap.

As determined as Sterling is to run her off (he's got no time for love, she blackmails him into letting her stay), she's as determined to win the "game" he's playing, so much so that she endures countless discomforts, hiding her shaky financial status, all while doing a bang-up job as the new maintenance person.

What neither counts on is their growing attraction and vulnerability that each exposes in the other. This is a most satisfying age gap, forbidden boss/employee, he falls first, steamy romance.

And who better to voice Courtney and Sterling in duet than Erin Mallon and Connor Crais? Both made me laugh, fume, cry and swoon over their performances of a pining, stalker-ish alphahole mountain man and his gritty, determined, curvalicious, braid-wearing spitfire.

I've been a fan of Tilly's since reading her Sleet hockey series, and I am officially now in my mountain man era.

Addicting

As with all of SJ Tilly’s books, I could not stop listening to! Definitely a slow burn but in a good way!

She's done it again!!!

I inhale every single book that Miss Tilly publishes and, with this one, as always, she didn't disappoint. What a sweet story. I loved Sterling and Courtney and cannot wait for the next one in the series.

Fantastic

I read this book as an arc and then immediately jump into the audio on release day. The narrators did such a good job bringing the characters to life & I even caught a few one liners in the audio that didn't stick out in the book originally. Absolutely loved it!

another homerun

SJ Tilly can do no wrong. This woman has proven she can write nearly any type of romance and any trope and brings it home every time!

Courtney comes to Black Lodge Mountain excited to start her new job, but when the owner, Sterling Black realizes he hired a woman, he is not happy - even more so because he is unequivocally attracted to her and now knows he can't have her. Determined to prove her worth, Courtney lives and works in some abysmal conditions, never complaining or making a fuss in hopes she doesn't catch the ire of Sterling again. But when he finds out just what she's been putting up with, he instantly feels horrible for his cold, distant behavior and works to try and make her feel welcome and comfortable while still trying to control this attraction to her.

Eventually that resistance is futile as they both give into this attraction and Sterling proceeds to unabashedly worship her in every way possible. All of these scenes are made that much sweeter with her being a plus size FMC. 🥰 Learning to trust each other takes time, but they work through their miscommunication and develop a trust that gets put to the test but makes them stronger in the end.

Don't even dream of not tossing this title to the front of your TBR! You won't regret it I promise! 🤩🤩🤩

Ummmm I need me a Mountain Boss

Okay! This was really good. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t wait for the next two in the series!

I totally have a lady Boner for Courtney

I totally have a lady Boner for Courtney! Listen, don’t get me wrong, Sterling is literally a wet dream. The big strong Brody mountain man! I mean, come on! But, Courtney, is B. A.! The fact that she was in a really dark place, going through something really hard in her life and found a new job, and Found a new life made such an amazing story! The camaraderie and the found family between the employees was so good to read. And don’t forget about the spice, because the spice was spicy! And oh my God, thanks for saving all the super crazy drama till like the last 15 chapters of the book! Had me on the edge of my seat! But I absolutely loved this story!

Lady Bear is my new favorite character

Courtney has been on her own since she was a teenager, doing whatever it takes to survive while dreaming of something more. So when she lands a job at a remote lodge—handling maintenance in exchange for a place to live—she packs up her life and heads across the country.
Sterling Black thinks he hired a guy. Instead, Courtney shows up. And now he’s stuck with an employee who’s too pretty, too distracting, and too damn stubborn to quit, no matter how hard he tries to push her away. Working together? Impossible. But resisting each other? Even harder.
Yes, yes, YES. Mountain Boss is classic SJ Tilly in all the best ways—curvy heroine, possessive (and slightly unhinged) hero, and the kind of tension that keeps you hooked. It’s got major Alliance series vibes, like if Nero and Smoky Darling had a book baby. It gave me everything I missed from those stories, but in a way that still felt fresh, new, and impossible to put down. I have no idea whose book is next, but I will be devouring it.
And I have to talk about Lady Bear. You know that viral debate—“Would you rather run into a bear or a man in the woods?” We always pick the bear. Especially this bear. I loved her, and I need to see her again in future books!
Another one for my ever-growing SJ Tilly shelf.

᪥ Mountain Lodge
᪥ Boss x Employee
᪥ Flannel
᪥ Close Proximity
᪥ Age Gap
᪥ Hidden Relationship
᪥ Darker Elements
᪥ Dual POV
᪥ Lady Bear 🐻