Business Casual (Lovelight, #4) by B.K. Borison 
Series: Lovelight #4
Published by Berkley on July 16, 2024
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Two opposites will find out if one night together is enough to get each other out of their systems in the final book in the beloved Lovelight series.
Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations.
In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him.
And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.
I am so sorry to leave Lovelight Farms. I loved this little town.
Charlie Milford hates his philandering father. As far as Charlie thinks, the only good thing he did was give Charlie one of his greatest gifts, a previously unknown half-sister in Stella Bloom-Peters. Getting to know his sister has brought him much happiness, included in that happiness is visiting her on her Christmas Tree Farm and including himself in her little town of Inglewild, Maryland. Charlie loves this quaint little town and its residents. He abandons his cold, lifeless apartment in Manhattan every chance he gets and visits Stella. He even made sure he is included as part of the Town’s phone tree so he can be kept up to date on its happenings.
That is why Charlie is sending Stella and her new husband, Luka, to Italy for a month and offering to Stella’s partners that he’ll take care of Stella’s duties at the farm while still working remotely for his NYC investment firm. Keeping busy keeps Charlie’s busy mind occupied, so he has also taken over Stella’s responsibilities for the upcoming Autumn festival. It’s just a bonus that he gets to work on the committee with new business owner, Nova Porter. Charlie continues his shameless flirting with Nova never believing that she gives him more than a fleeting thought whenever he encounters her. Little does he know that Charlie is constantly in the back of Nova’s thoughts.
Nova is beside herself with nerves getting the final touches on her tattoo studio. Opening a shop in her small home town is risky but its something she has dreamed of for years. Her family has backed her and trusted her for years and she is afraid of disappointing them, especially her big brother, Beckett. Beckett was the first person to offer up his arm when she decided she wanted to be a tattoo artist and he has allowed her to practice on him ever since. Nova just can’t disappoint Beckett after all he has done for her so she is making herself crazy trying to obtain perfection before she can open her door and show him.
Nova has no time right now for a relationship but she thinks that flirty Charlie Milford might be up for a one time, no strings night of sex. At least she hopes that there was something behind all that flirting he always does when he is around her. Except it seems that neither one want to stop at just once and decide to keep their trysts as business casual at least while Charlie is filling in for Stella.
But what happens when two people who promise to keep things casual each find themselves getting way too attached to their casual fling, especially when Charlie will soon need to return to NYC?
THOUGHTS:
Another sweet, sweet story, and I am heartbroken that it will be the last of this series. The author indicates that this is absolutely the last book, except maybe an short story or novella just for fun down the road. I am so sad. I liked this little town as much as Charlie does and he at least was on the phone tree. Ha! At least until he and Nova become the subject of the phone tree. Always be wary of NOT receiving another call on the phone tree because then the gossip is about you.
Charlie’s father always pushing him but also spends a lot of time sabotaging Charlie with his clients. Charlie is always battling his need to impress his father, even while he hates his father. Charlie always comes off as a fun guy because he doesn’t believe he is worthy of anyone’s attention. He feels that if he didn’t wear the mask of fun-time Charlie, no one would want to spend time with him. It was heartbreaking to see him in tears when Nova chooses him.
Nova puts too much pressure on herself to succeed. She feels that she can’t let her family down. She is so stressed about failing that she pushes her brother, her most loyal supporter, away because she doesn’t want to show him her studio until she deems it perfect and he is hurt that she won’t let him see.
I absolutely loved watching these two get past their own feelings of failure and risk reaching out for the one person they want to spend their time with. Even when thinking the other party didn’t want anything serious, they each put themselves out there to support the other.
Just a sweet romance at the end of a sweet series. I will be visiting Lovelight Farms again in the future.
Favorite Scene:
I don’t know how I ended up in Nova’s kitchen with a jar of peanut butter and a bag of marshmallows, but I’m not exactly mad about it. Nova stares at me from the other end of the table with her chin in her hand, a wildly arousing combination of impatience and amusement etched across her face. Her left eyebrow ticks up every time I pull a new marshmallow out of the bag, and I wonder how much I can get away with before she kicks me out of her house.
I like pushing her buttons. She makes the cutest faces when I do.
“Good ‘mallows,” I tell her, mouth half full, cheek bulging. It’s not my normal seduction routine, but nothing is normal when it comes to Nova. “Thanks for the snack.”
“You grabbed it yourself,” she drawls, leaning back in her chair. She took off her jacket in the entryway and I can’t stop looking at the slope of her bare shoulder or the inked lines that dance down her skin. Twisted vines. Flowers bursting from in between.
I could spend all night learning the art that decorates her body. I just might.
But she needs to ask me first.
She still hasn’t asked me.
I dip another marshmallow into the peanut butter. Nova sighs.
“Charlie.”
“Hm?”
She sighs again and I roll my lips against my smile. “What are you doing?”
I pop the marshmallow into my mouth. “Waiting for you to ask me a question.”
Also waiting for her to change her mind. I don’t want to pressure her. I don’t want to make assumptions about what she does or doesn’t want.
I want to hear the words.
“This is the longest build up to a one night stand I’ve ever had in my life,” she sighs.
“Is that what we’re doing?”
She is unamused. “Charlie.”
“You know what I want to hear,” I tell her. Though her repeating my name like that in that sassy tone of hers is sort of doing it for me too. I busy my hands with closing the jar to the peanut butter while Nova pushes back her chair.
The screech of it is loud in the quiet of the kitchen. My throat tightens as she moves around the table. Is she going to ask me to leave? Is this the final straw? Have I pushed too hard, asked for too much? I’m still not clear on why Nova wants anything from me.
But instead of grabbing my jacket off the hook in the hall and tossing it in my face, Nova pads over to me in her sock-covered feet and props her hip against the table at my side. The edges of her skirt brush against my fingertips, and I have to tilt back in my seat to get a good look at her face.
Her cheeks are pink, her eyes are dark, and her hair is a deep golden tangle in the light from beneath the stove.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look more beautiful, and I’ve done a whole lot of looking where Nova Porter is concerned.
“Charlie,” she says, her voice a honeyed rasp. “Would you like to stay for a night of hot, passionate sex?”
She’s done teasing, I guess. I swallow hard and shift in my chair. “I would. Thank you for asking.”
She lifts herself up, sliding back on the table in front of me. Her knee nudges the bag of marshmallows. Her foot taps the side of my chair.
“I need to tell you something first.” I clear my throat, staring hard at where her skirt rides higher against her thighs. “Before our night of hot, passionate sex.”
Her eyebrows climb her forehead. “If you tell me you want me to bark like a dog while we do it, we’re going to have some problems.”
A laugh spurts out of me and I rest my hand on her thigh. I spread my fingers wide and squeeze gently. She shivers. I like it a lot.
“No. I don’t want you to bark like a dog. Do you want me to bark like a dog?”
She shakes her head. The color in her cheeks deepens with my hand on her.
I blow out a deep breath. “I did bribe the DJ.”
Her forehead creases. “You what?”
“I did bribe the DJ. The night of the wedding. I told him if he saw me dancing with you, he should immediately change the song to a slow one.”
“Ah.” Her face lights up, delighted. “How’d you know I’d dance with you?”
I squeeze her thigh again. “I’m a persistent man.”
“That you are.”
She leans back on her palms, legs tipping half an inch wider in front of me. My heart trips over itself before cranking into double-time. It’s entirely possible I don’t survive the night.
“It leads me to my next point,” I manage from a throat that feels too tight. Christ, the look of her. She’s temptation wrapped in ink and a cozy sweater, her socked feet swinging back and forth. I bet if I push her knees wider, I could see what color underwear she’s hiding under that pretty skirt.
She arches an eyebrow. “Which is?”
I forget what I was going to say. “What?”
“You were going to confess another deep, dark secret.”
“That’s right.” I rub my thumb over her tights. “I wanted an excuse to touch you. That night. That’s why I wanted a slow song.”
A smile hitches the corner of her mouth. “You’re touching me right now.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing about it. I touched you once, and I only wanted to touch you more. I want to keep touching you. I want to make you feel good.” I’m hanging on by a thread here. I slip my hand higher until it’s beneath her skirt. Her skin is warm, her tights smooth beneath my palm “I want a lot of things, Nova.
I want to hear her say my name again. I want to hear her beg it. I want to unravel her so thoroughly, she knows exactly what it feels like to be untethered and undone. I want to leave my mark on her, not just with my mouth and with my teeth, but with the memory of this night and all the delicious things I plan to do to her. This might be a one-night stand, but I want her to think about me tomorrow. I want her to think about me for awhile.
She swings her legs back and forth. “Well, I can’t say I don’t like the direction of your thoughts.” Her tongue wets her bottom lip, and I track the motion, a thrill of heat zipping up my spine.
My fingertips brush something lacey at the top of her thigh. I glance down at my hand and rub my thumb back and forth, considering. When I flip up the edge of her skirt to take a look, she laughs at whatever dumbstruck expression paints itself across my face.
Thigh highs.
She’s wearing thigh highs.
I pull my hand back from her thigh and drop it to safer territory down by her ankle, letting my forehead fall against her knee. I rock my head there, back and forth, and try to get control of myself.
“I need a minute.”
“Take several minutes. I didn’t mean to send you into a tailspin.” She combs her fingers through my hair.
I squeeze her ankle. “Sure you did,” I mumble.
Great review!