I thought leaving Heart’s Cove for a fresh start in Lovers Peak, Colorado would be the hardest thing I’d do after my divorce. New town, new job, new school for my boys—what could go wrong?
Everything, apparently.
Starting with my new boss, Rhett Baldwin, who cut in front of me at his coffee shop on day one. Then we both “won” the same house in the town raffle, because apparently my luck comes with a catch: him.
Now I’m stuck renovating a money pit with a man who bought me winter tires but won’t admit he cares. Who secretly feeds a stray cat while insisting he hates it. Who pays for half the town’s medical emergencies while hiding behind a reputation that’s part truth, part armor.
My sister Georgia keeps asking if I’m okay. My ex-husband thinks I’ve lost my mind. And my boys? They’ve already fallen for the grumpy billionaire who built them Hot Wheels beds and teaches them how to demolish drywall.
Me? I promised myself I’d never let another man have power over my job, my home, or my heart.
But Rhett Baldwin doesn’t play by the rules. And neither, it turns out, do I.
My Review
You’re starting a new life. You’re making a name for yourself. You’re tired of everything being an uphill battle. You need to make roots. To keep your children safe. To get all those who doubted you to respect you. This project is so important, and I just won a house. But ugh, who’s this disrespectful, full of themselves, manipulative..kind, perceptive, boss, employee, lover?
Forty and Fighting Dirty: A Little Midlife Novel by Lillian Monroe brings us into the small-town, witty workplace enemies-to-lovers relationship that is Piper and Rhett. Both of them are people left with scars from marriages gone wrong. Now these two must navigate the mistrust and stubbornness of each other to reach what could be their own stable, happily ever after.
One thing early on showed me exactly how Piper and Rhett’s relationship was going to turn out. And that was Rhett’s relationship with a cat. Now you know what they say, there’s nothing stronger than a bond between a cat and a man that never wanted it in the first place. It starts off as actively hostile and confrontational, to over time allows for more allowance and open affection before giving it a name.
Piper is our freshly divorced single mom trying to settle down with a stable job, all to provide a good life for her kids. Her willingness to go to bat for them is wonderful. I loved her mama bear mode and caring side. She is sassy and determined to stand up for herself and her convictions. She isn’t afraid to stand up to higher authority and potential shaming from the town to get her point across. She is both strong and vulnerable because of her past experiences, which she starts to work through when she meets Rhett.
Rhett is a man who likes to think less of himself. He acts like he’s a puppet master who only does nice things for the sake of reputation. Closer introspection tells us how wildly wrong he is. If he were truly like that, he wouldn’t have kept the cat. He wouldn’t question if the initial hostility towards Piper was the right thing. He wouldn’t buy items or help with a home renovation just to see someone else smile. His past may be complicated, ridden with strife, but he’s become a good man despite that; he just needs to see it. That’s where Piper comes in.
Rhett and Piper together made for such an engaging duo to follow, with their equally fiery personalities. The two get into a bizarre confrontation from the get-go.
They butt heads over something extremely mundane, but it helps showcase Piper’s sense of morality and Rhett’s attachment to the status quo he surrounds himself in.
The two slowly poke holes into the heavily guarded walls they’ve built from their prior relationships. With Piper showing Rhett the life he lives may not just be an illusion of kindness but a reality he embodies himself. And Rhett shows Piper that even when differences appear to be heavy, maybe it won’t always be unbalanced, and safety can be found. The journey to finding themselves as equals is so enjoyable. They fit together in a way that made them feel like two sides of the same coin. The back and forth between them had a natural ebb and flow to it that made it very easy to root for them to get together.
And when they do, you can feel all the emotions and longing come out in every drip. You can feel the missed years and the craving for companionship. The words to describe their intimacy are less lust-driven and more sensual and hungry for love. He worships her in every encounter and takes his time to make her come apart. I appreciated getting to see the scenes from both their perspectives and how it showed how equally excited and invested they were in making things work.
The consistent focus on the main duo kept the story clean and concise in many places, but likewise, it highlighted a few issues. The four being pacing, repetitiveness, miscommunication, and lack of trust.
The pacing of the novel changed at various points. At the beginning, we were covering more day-to-day interactions. As the novel continued, I noticed a staggering amount of time skips. Given the limited page count, skipping around certain days was bound to happen, but it felt as if we were skipping moments that could have added more depth to the story. And in exchange, it felt like other parts had a tendency to drag.
We didn’t get a lot of time to focus on the ski lodge project. There were cut-ins within the time skips to give us an idea of how it was going. It was introduced as an integral project early on. The importance felt downsized after the house renovation was introduced. It started serving more as a foreshadowed deus ex machina at the end to quickly tie up a recurring issue that Rhett and Piper just couldn’t seem to compromise on.
The novel states multiple times how important Piper’s sons are to her. This is shown throughout the story. Rhett even says he cares for these children and starts envisioning a future with Piper practically raising them as his own.
But I realized the story doesn’t show many bonding scenes between Rhett and the boys. In many instances, they’re left with babysitters, or interactions between Rhett and Piper occur when they’re at school. We get some little moments here and there, like during the hospital scene and during one of the Fixer Upper scenes. Many potential scenarios are glossed over due to the hyper focus and time skips featuring the couple more often. The story neglects to build needed connections that felt so important, given how Piper keeps her boys at the forefront of every decision made. That includes the decision to move to Lover’s Peak in the first place.
On the other side of the spectrum, the conflict of when the couple would make their relationship official began dragging on. I kept wondering why it was taking so long. There were plenty of opportunities for it to occur and wrap up the story in a tidy bow. The reason became apparent when the miscommunication scene happened.
The time and placement of the miscommunication scene in two chapters make it hard to feel the impact. It almost appears to be placed there to extend the “will they, won’t they” drama to the end of the novel. Rhett attempts a power flex on Piper, highlighting that power imbalance she’s feared the whole time. Rhett and Piper default to the same distrustful mindset from the beginning. Piper makes an escape plan. But then Rhett does what he’s been considering for the majority of the book, and Piper accepts. An entire core conflict gets resolved in a matter of two chapters. The only problem is that those chapters are at the end of the book, right before the epilogue.
The lack of time to further explore the conflict and the fallout makes the resolution feel forced. The lack of trust between them has been very obvious since the beginning. And it’s understandable as to why. They’ve both been hurt and used by people who didn’t even try to understand them and used them to their own benefit. I understand why this scene is so necessary. Piper needs that final confrontation in order to prove to herself that she is no longer a doormat to others’ whims. She may be self-sacrificial in how she puts her children before herself. But she does not need to be so in a way that rips out parts of her to please someone that would never do the same. She needs someone with whom she can be an equal. She fears Rhett is the same kind of person she left. Rhett needs proof she’s not just another manipulator who’s using him for all his worth until a better model comes along. Proof of their devotion is needed.
But the rushed feeling of these chapters almost cheapens the prior development and understanding from the earlier ones. The relationship becomes more like a honeymoon phase that was always on thin ice. Piper is ready to run, and Rhett is too willing to use his power against her, both at the drop of a hat. This is both a contradiction and set setback of prior convictions. Especially when the majority of the book is hammering in the opposite.
It was so insistent on itself so much it became a cycle of constantly restating the same things. They said they’re able to see through each other, that they’re actually good people, and they’re drawn to instead of the initial negative portrayals they assumed at first. Their actions could have been left to speak for themselves. Because of it, at times, it even started to feel as if the characters were trying to convince themselves more than they actually believed it at times. And the speed run of the resolution makes me wonder if there will be more issues akin to this one in the future. Did Rhett do enough to really quell the prior issues in their past? And how far does an I’m sorry take this and don’t leave go?
Ultimately, these issues could have been averted if the book had more room to breathe. The premise of the novel is amazing, and I love Rhett and Piper. They feel human and have a fiery spark to them. An increased page count would only help showcase their growing trust in each other. It would offer further proof that Rhett and Piper complement each other in all aspects of their lives, including in conflict resolution, making them stronger than ever.
The sassiness, strength, and big hearts of our protagonists made me feel extremely invested in their story. It had me continually invested, wondering when they would realize they were what each other needed. The ending gives us a taste of something romantic and idyllic with the promise that the characters will live that way for the rest of their days. Thank you to Lilian Monroe for bringing us characters with such a fun, amazing spark. If you want to see how these dynamic workplace enemies become emotionally invested lovers, I’d recommend checking it out.
Until Next Time,
Lynzee
If you would like to read Forty and Fighting Dirty by Lilian Monroe, you can find this book on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite, I earn on qualifying purchases.
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