#28 [2022/CBR14] Stuck With You by Ali Hazelwood

After reading The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for book club, I decided I should read some more books by her. I discovered that she has written a trio of romantic novellas involving women in STEM. I picked up Stuck With You (2022) for a quick read. I finished this one night when I was sick and couldn't stop coughing. It was a nice distraction, but I could have skipped the sickness.

Sadie (also the name of our new puppy, which felt a little weird as I was reading) is an engineer who works for a boutique firm that focuses on environmental building design. She is very superstitious and has decided that she now must eat a croissant before every sales pitch in order to get the job. When a blond, sexy, viking-type man [Eric] offers her the last croissant, she is very grateful. They start talking, hit it off, and decide to go out to dinner. Dinner goes even better. It turns out they are both engineers! And Eric works in her building, for a much larger, more established, rival firm. They have an amazing night and Sadie is very excited about seeing him again.

Then she goes into work the next morning and finds out that Eric actually owns the firm, and he never told her. Also, his company stole the client she'd pitched the day before, using things he'd learned from her at dinner. She understandably feels devastated and betrayed, and she doesn't talk to him again. Eric texts her and calls her, but stops when she doesn't respond.

But late one night, Sadie is heading home when Eric gets into the elevator. She's decided she's the unluckiest person in the world, but then the elevator stops. Sadie and Eric are stuck together, and now they have to deal with each other.

I enjoyed this novella. It was quick, easy, and entertaining. It drew me in and told a fun story in a short time. I think I'll be reading all of Hazelwood's books.