Title: Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up
Author: Charish Reid
Publication: June 6, 2023
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Genre: Romance, POC
Pages: 309
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Total opposites. Totally irresistible.
Mickey Chambers is an expert at analyzing modern literature. But when it comes to figuring out her own story, she’s feeling a little lost. At thirty-three, she’s an adjunct instructor with a meager summer class schedule and too many medical bills, courtesy of her chronic illness. Picking up a bartending gig seems perfect. Sure, Mickey’s never done this before, but the gorgeous, grumpy bar owner, Diego Acosta, might be the perfect man to teach the teacher…if he wasn’t so stressed.
Diego is worried he’s running his late wife’s bar into the ground. Add the pressures of returning to college part-time at forty-two, and it’s no wonder he’s making rash decisions. Like hiring the sunny, sexy woman who looks more at home in a library than slinging beers to rowdy barflies, and who turns out to be teaching his online writing course, a complication neither was expecting…
It’s not long before Mickey starts reenergizing The Saloon with cocktails, karaoke and an optimism even Diego can’t ignore. They need to fight their feelings if they want to keep things professional, but all it takes is one sip, one kiss, to shake both their worlds forever…
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I also get super excited when the summer books for review come across my email. I always know that I am going to find something amazing. I also know that my reading list is going to be super speed or at least as best, I can manage. Plus, I am always looking for new authors and books to read.
Mickey Chambers is holding on by a thread financially. She has a chronic illness that causes her to scrimp and save paycheck to paycheck to help pay for the meds that she needs to function. She is struggling to get classes at the local university where she is an adjunct professor. On a whim, she interviews at a local bar when she goes by and sees that they are interviewing. That is when she meets her new boss and owner of the bar Diego. Oh my goodness I loved this book so much. I tried so hard to read it in a timely manner but my life is insane right now. When I did read this book, I read it in massive sections 30% at a time, that sort of thing. I loved Mickey she like me has hypothyroidism, which I can feel her pain makes you feel like crap unless you have it under control and managed.
I adored the fact that this was a taboo relationship on several levels. The whole teacher/student thing plus the boss/employee thing. It’s written in such a way that it doesn’t feel “dirty” I guess is the word that I wouldn’t use but can’t come up with the right one at the moment. I loved the way that Mickey brought her boss Diego out of his shell and showed him happiness again especially after the death of his wife 5 years prior. He just sort of retreated into his shell and that is where he stayed. The fact that Mickey had overly involved parents and tried to hide everything from them since she knew they would baby her made her that more relatable. Not everyone’s parents are sunshine and roses like some authors do, so to see the way the author wrote these was refreshing. I will definitely be checking out more books by this author in the near future.
