Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: 🌶️🌶️

by Lexi Blake

This was my first Lexi Blake book, and I was so pleased. Thanks to @valentine_pr_ for the digital arc. Below is my honest review of Start Us Up, which is new this week!

Ivy was the darling of the San Fransisco tech world until her company went under, and she took the fall while her CFO ex-boyfriend managed to fail up. Wracked with guilt, humiliated, and almost out of savings, Ivy is back living with her mom in her childhood NYC apartment. The one upside of losing it all is Ivy is back with her childhood best friends, one of whom asks her to talk with Heath, a friend who needs help with code.

Upon meeting Heath, Ivy realizes two things: 1. He is outrageously handsome, and 2. What he is working on has a lot of potential. Looking for her next opportunity, Ivy negotiates herself into the project and finally reaches out to her mentor for help. As the project evolves, so does her relationship with Heath. However, she can’t shake her feelings of failure. When her ex reappears, Ivy’s fears compound.

Ivy and Heath are adorable, and he is a high-quality book boyfriend. However, this book’s power is in the commentary about powerful women – how strong women are viewed in the workplace, how women internalize blame, and what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated field. It is also a great message about women sticking up for women, be those women friends, family, or mentors.