Love On My Mind by Tracey Livesay

Title: Love On My Mind
Classification: Adult Fiction
Genre: Interracial Contemporary Romance
Format: Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Avon Impulse (August 23, 2016)
ISBN-10: 0062497812
ISBN-13: 978-0062497819
Author's Website: http://www.traceylivesay.com/
Notes: I received an eARC loan in exchange for an honest review.




"To be clear: If I make Adam Bennett presentable for the Computronix project launch in five weeks. you'll make me a partner?"

Chelsea Grant is the Executive Managing Director of the West Coast Entertainment division of Beecher & Stowe and she's up for partnership. When her boss calls her into his office she thinks he's going to let her know if she's gotten the promotion. Instead, he gives her one final task to prove her loyalty to the company, and it goes against her ethics. She's a master of spin, but part of her success hinges directly on her insistence of brutal honesty with her clients. With the promise of a partnership hanging in the balance, she reluctantly agrees to take on the task. As she gets to know the man behind the serious facade, she soon realizes just how much trouble she's truly gotten herself in as she finds herself falling for the handsome young genius.

This was a seriously cute and sweet romance. It brought to mind the movie Jerry Maguire although a PR spin doctor and a happy ending are about the only things these two have in common. Adam Bennett is a genius who can hold his own at a serious tech conferences, but doesn't suffer fools gladly. He was named People Magazine's sexist man alive beating out countless actors and models for the spot. His response to questions not tech related reminded me a bit of Mel Gibson's negative response to actress Janeane Garofalo's questions during an unrehearsed skit at the MTV Movie Awards in 1996. I vaguely remember Mel saying he was a serious actor and didn't care for the line of questions thrown at him. In both cases, the interviewee walked off leaving a poor impression of themselves in the public eye.

Adam is not only the developer of the product Computronix is about to reveal, he's also the CEO, and he suffers from Asperger Syndrome. This presents a real problem because he has trouble interacting with the media. He doesn't get social cues and takes things literally which makes his responses appear arrogant and haughty. Chelsea is a PR whiz and once she knows what she's dealing with she comes up with a plan. Seeing these two interact, get to know one another, and fall in love was fun to watch.

Overall I gave this one 4 1/2 out of 5 roses. This was a wonderful debut for Tracey Livesay. The characters were real and easy to relate to. The product Adam created spoke to my inner geek. As the wife of a person who co-founded a software related company, and a former computer consultant myself, I can see how you'd try to take advantage of the press' intrigue with the private entrepreneur named sexiest man alive by one of nation's most popular magazines when launching a game changing product. Could they have pawned the press conference onto someone else? Probably, but by utilizing Adam's claim to fame they got more coverage then if they hadn't, and that was a smart move. Plus, it made for an excellent love story with a little bump in the road. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one earned a STEAM rating--too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed.