The Build Up

By: Tati Richardson

Narrated by: Vance Goodwin, Anna Lynn Wright

A truly unfortunate first day of work leads to unexpected love in this sparkling debut from Romance in Colour podcast cohost Tati Richardson.

Rumpled and ragged was not how architect Ari James envisioned kicking off her first day at a new firm. And few things can top the horror of her new—and extremely hot—colleague walking in on her at the worst moment ever. Learning that she’ll be working with him on the project that’s supposed to get her career back on top makes it harder than ever to focus on her big comeback.

With a partnership at his firm on the line, nothing is going to stand in the way of Porter Harrison absolutely killing it on his new project: not his obnoxious rival, not his unpredictable brother and definitely not his new coworker whose gorgeous curves he accidentally saw and now can’t get out of his head.

Though neither of them is looking for love, once their creative juices get flowing, Ari and Porter’s connection is obvious. But when their shared goal has always been winning at work, building a solid foundation for a relationship might end up costing them everything …

©2023 Tatianna Mathews Richardson (P)2023 Recorded Books

Built up to a explosive finish!

This story was so Atlanta; so cultured; so sexy! It perfectly describes the jitters and butterflies when you’ve finally met your match! Definitely a must read!!

Great read!

Curvy done right.
Super cute story. Fun and intelligent. The MCs are smart and confident so it was refreshing to read a story where the complication wasn’t the girl’s lack of confidence or oblivion.
Ari and Porter are sexy and the sitch creates all the opp for all the relate.
Can’t go wrong.
Also, as a curvy girl myself, I absolutely appreciate the confidence and screw you attitude of Ari. She’s a great character! Would love another Ari and Porter book! Come on Italy!
Narrators are perfect.

I didn’t want it to end! PERFECT love story ❤️🤌🏽

A Black love story 🥹☺️ I absolutely loved this read so much. The narration was perfect and engaging, I literally listened to it all day and didn’t want the story to end. A perfect happy ending, I highly recommend this read and it has become one of my favorite romance novels. Tati Richardson is an amazing storyteller. I resonated with this book since Porter has some roots in New Orleans, so that was a surprisingly fun similarity for me. LOVEDD. IT! 10/10 .

No Way!!!

The storyline was fine until near the end of the book; I couldn’t stand the way Ari treated Porter like he was to blame for the screwed up actions and attitudes of others, and never told him why she acted like an ass toward him. The narrators were okay.

Good book

This was a really good book. I enjoyed it very much. The narration was great. The book was great and I just sit and listen to it all day long.

Adorable

Totally enjoyable book. Loved the heroine, Ari who is accomplished, talented and proudly plus-sized. Loved that the book tackled sexism, racism and weight bias seriously but demonstrated Ari rising above the challenges.

The wrong narrator can break a story

Though predictable, as many romances are, the story was good. I loved the female in a male-dominated field finally getting appreciated for herself and her talent. There were some funny metaphors and one-liners, and a few fun characters that made me want to finish the book. The struggle, though was with the narration. The female narrator was amazing and carried the story. Unfortunately, every time the chapter switched to the male narrator, my immediate thought was “this dude hates his job.” There was no prosody, no story telling, no emotion from him. This romcom was not for him.

I will be reading more by this author, and I’ll definitely be looking for the female narrator in other books.

10/10 highly recommended

This story was soooooo GOOD. I’m so happy the MCs got their HEA, especially Ari. She overcame despite the misogyny and turmoil she faced. Also loved all of the references to black culture: HBCUs, Black Greek Life, etc.

This was a good listen

I liked the story but it was extremely predictable. The title built up to the exact ending I could have guessed in an eyes rolling yawn. The characters were predictable and everything about their lives and actions were predictable. From the bbw who was so-called confident to the handsome rich hunk, their jobs as black Architects right up to the classless punch and terminal scene. Most of which we see in every movie we’ve ever seen.

A Great Listen!

This was an amazing story and made for a great listen! The racy parts caused me to miss an exit or two, but that’s a good thing. Very well written.