Piece of Work

Red Lipstick Coalition, Book 1

By: Staci Hart

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Teddy Hamilton

His body is as chiseled as Adonis. His lips are as sculpted as David. And his ego is the size of the Guggenheim. You know the type: wolfish smile and the gravity of a black hole - the kind of man who sucks all the air from the room the second he enters it.

My cocky boss thinks this internship was wasted on me, and he doesn’t hesitate to let me know. But he’s wrong, and I’m going to prove it to him. If I can stay away from his devil lips, that is, lips that cut me down and kiss me in the same breath, leaving me certain he’s on a mission to ruin my life...and maybe my heart.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

If Michelle Wie was a romance heroine...

If Michelle Wie (a very tall Korean-American celeb golfer in real life) was a heroine in a captivating novel that is set at the Met, it would be this Rin-Court whirlwind romance. It's a light, lovely and easy read / listen with all the desired ingredients to make women swoon such as the broken-but-hungry-for-love alpha male (think a taller and slightly older Zac Efron), the beautiful and talented heroine, Italy, priceless works of art, engaging narrators and a HEA.

You also can't go wrong with top notch narrators like Emily Woo Zeller and hunky (sounding) Teddy Hamilton.

Meh

I tried to start with a later book in this series, but realized that they don't really work as stand-alones and I needed more background information. So here I am - book 1. Steamy romance and all, but I just didn't connect with the characters at all. The female lead, built like a supermodel, abandons her shlubby clothes in favor of fashion and never looks back. That seems like her entire character growth because the makeover doesn't seem to help her self esteem that much. She's a pushover from start to finish. The dude doesn't come much farther. Ends with weird unresolved issues with his father. Finally finished when I listened at increased speed. At least this had two of my favorite narrators. I might have quit otherwise.

Dual performance

Rin was awarded an internship at The Met working with Dr. Lyons in the European Paintings department. Rin specializes in Renaissance art. She’s worried about the assignment at the museum because it’s not the same as going to classes where she can follow a syllabus.
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Rin is a tall Korean woman who is insecure about her height. She wears frumpy clothes to hide her figure.
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Dr. Lyon’s answers to his father who runs and controls the museum. He doesn’t see eye to eye with his father since he stole his last intern from him.
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This is my first time reading a book written by Staci Hart. Piece of Work centers around working in a museum with artwork and sculptures of which I’m not interested in. Yet Staci Hart made it bearable to read. This is a romantic comedy in the work place between an intern and curator. It’s a mixed race relationship, yet Staci only mentions her race not focusing too much on her Korean background.
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I loved the scenes where Rin’s friends boost her confidence by giving her advice. Rin’s transformation from an insecure woman into a bold confident woman was remarkable.
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The story is told through the eyes of both Rin and Court. Instant feedback from both characters feelings is very rewarding in a book.
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Rin is like a book cover except her book cover is a poor representation of what’s inside. Her book cover needs an update. The cover needs to match what’s she’s capable of doing. Her achievements and accolades are hidden behind a shabby cover. Her confidence was hidden within the pages of a book with a cover that did nothing to enhance or celebrate that image. With the help,of her friends her exterior matched her interior.
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Emily Woo Zeller and Teddy Hamilton performed Piece of Work. I listened using the audible app which provided a high quality recording. I’m an eyes and ears person with a particular interest in owning both the audiobook and ebook. Both performances were excellent offering the listener a great experience.

4 Friends brought out of their shells

I've read two out of the 4 books in this series and while the author did an great work of making these standalone, it was fun to start and obtain glimpses of the girls before they brought their true selves with the help of some Red Lipstick.

In this series all 4 girls find refuge in each other, but the time came for Rin (our heroine)to change her look as her job was demanding a professional look if only to be taken serious, this led to using the infamous Red Lipstick that allows her to be her brave and get the guy.

Very, very slow

The story chapter after chapter is the same. You can literally skip 2-3 chapters and not miss a thing. The characters were so boring, that I couldn’t care less if they got together or not. The female narrator is a perfect fix for insomniacs, her voice will literally put you to sleep. Definitely not worth the credit or price of the book.

Wrong description?

I’m very confused. This novel was promoted as a “Romantic Comedy.” There was no humor that I could find. I thought one statement might have been intended to be humor, but was barfingly disgusting. The whole story was dark anguish.

I wanted to like it

I usually live this author so I thought I would give this series a try. It started out okay but it felt like it was very dragged out. The characters are difficult to connect with. The female leads were unrelateable. I wish I had not wasted the credit.