I liked the premise of this book when it began, Siobhan a late career starter and mother of two starts working for Cassie, hard ass investment manager by reputation.

While there were elements of the whole ice queen, late to understanding their sexuality trope, I really liked, I felt the romance was a little rushed at the start. I didn’t have a problem with the cheating or the whole boss subordinate line cross, but the narrative of the romance evolution was quite jumpy as they were hot and heavy one minute and then cooling off the next and then going slow and it all became a little confusing. The angst portion was a little too melodramatic for my taste but I think what consistently threw me off was the maturity level of the children. It really didn’t feel like they were five and six when they were talking - more like twelve or fourteen.

I do realize that this story is by a debut author, so a little roughness around the edges is to be expected. I really wanted to like this because the plot line was truly interesting, but in the end it didn’t quite work for me.

Thank you Bold Strokes Books for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This was an interesting story to start off.

I really love the premise of finding love later in life, along with having a fuller understanding of yourself and your sexuality.

Cassie and Siobhan begin sort of at each others throats but fall into a friendship. That’s friendship is soon flittered with attraction. Siobhan is married with two children and a husband who is quite generally preoccupied with anything that doesn’t involve his family. So it’s easy to root for Siobhan to end this loveless relationship with a man who drags his children out past bedtime to collect his wife on one of her few nights out. And begin exploring her attraction to women, one that’s always been there for her.

It was hard for me to visualize a future with our love interests initially. It obviously wasn’t insta-love but I couldn’t see it developing into something more substantial.

Not a standout for me but I would love to read more from this author in the future.

Published on Goodreads separately since it would not go through here. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Craving Cassie is the story of Cassie, the cold work driven banker, and Siobhan, the married, mother of 2 children, who has been assigned to learn under Cassie. Cassie is also notorious for being a womanizer but never committing to anyone. Siobhan is a quick learner and draws the physical attention of Cassie. She is well over her marriage (her kids too) and took the job to be able to support her kids when she finally went through with the divorce. Siobhan opens up to Cassie and they are soon seeing each other outside of work. Cassie meets Siobhan's kids and they love her. Both Cassie and Siobhan are in denial about love and agree to a no strings attached illicit affair. That obviously doesn't work out and a falling out occurs. Family members on both sides help them along in their journey back to each other.
Overall, a beautiful slower story. I like that the novel explored complex family situations. I don't really know how the whole work thing was working out, but I enjoyed the outside of work focus.

It`s difficult for me to write a favorable review of this book, although I want to do so if only because there is a first-time author effort that I do not want to disparage.

The plot is promising, a woman who finds it difficult to accept commitment in her relationships, apparently because of her haughty character. Then the development of the story makes her change too much the profile and the image that has been given to us at the beginning. I'm not saying it's not consistent, but maybe the initial image is too different from the final image that remains of Cassie at the end of the story.

The other half of the couple is Siobhan, a woman who is in a loveless marriage, she has two children, I will get into this later. She starts working under Cassie and it looks like they are going to be antagonists. Siobah begins to work under Cassie's orders and it seems that they are going to be antagonists. But they work together really well, and from a professional relationship they move on to a more personal one. And that's when things started to go wrong for me, because while still in her marriage Siobhan agrees to have an affair with Cassie. I didn't like that very much.

And apart from cheating, what has often confused me was Siobhan's children, I don't have kids but the language and behavior of those two have not seemed realistic at all for six and seven year olds.and so every time they have appeared It short-circuited me a bit. I also haven't really liked other supporting characters, Sioban's husband, Cassie's assistant Julie, Siobah's mother in law, even Cassie's parents and sister have been weird.

And finally, the development of the story has seemed zigzagging to me at least, it has left me out of place on occasion and that has also bothered me. It's not very common for it to happen to me, but the last two or three chapters seemed superfluous.

3 star
I loved the first half of this story. The characters are rich and very likeable. The dialog was crisp and clever. The children ages 5 and 8 are adorable but a bit mature for their ages. Very tolerant sharing their mother with a woman. But half way through one character makes a dramatic 180 life change, which was expected, but it went on and on. Each time I got to the end of a chapter I thought that was the end, but no, it went on. I also felt the flavor of the writing changed. More matter of fact rather than clever.
Nice story with sweet ending but a bit too long.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cassie Townsend is a successful investment banker who fills her private life with one night stands. Siobhan (Shivon) Carney is a mother of two caught in a loveless marriage. Her new job involves being trained by a reluctant Cassie. The two find out quickly that they have nothing in common.

Debut novelist Skye Rowan offers us an opposite attracts romance filled with witty dialogue, two rambunctious children and a will they or won’t they drama. Rowan takes her time revealing the underlying insecurities both women battle. This adds a welcome depth to the story and a more intimate connection to both Siobhan and Cassie.

Craving Cassie blends a couple of familiar tropes into a satisfying and entertaining read. For a freshman novel there are the inevitable bumps and lumps which will smooth out as the writer matures. Balancing dialogue and descriptive narrative as well as polishing out a lull or two in the storytelling will come with experience. But for right here and right now Craving Cassie is a solid first novel worthy of your attention.

I received a free advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was less conflict than I was expecting, and more of an easier read. Siobhan's relationship with her husband is pretty much on the outs right from the get-go, so there wasn't a lot of drama in regards to him. The real meat of the story is Cassie getting over her "player" ways and Siobhan being patient. Also, there is a bit of a fun idea with Cassie feeling like kids aren't her thing, but also taking to Siobhan's kids much more than she ever expected.

I didn't love the book so much that I'd go back and read it a second time, but I was into while reading it.

Investment banker Cassie is tasked with mentoring Siobhan, which she does not want to do. Siobhan on the other hand is looking forward to it as Cassie is the best investment banker in the company. Cassie is a player. Siobhan is married (albeit unhappily) with two children. Cassie and Siobhan find they have a lot of the same likes and dislikes. One of which is that Siobhan also likes women.
This is a, sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, story telling how Cassie overcomes her hang ups from the past in order to have a loving relationship with someone and Siobhan’s determination to help her do so. A nice read.

Craving Cassie



Craving Cassie follows a dance between two people who couldn’t be more different. Cassie sleeps around, has major daddy issues, is still broken over her first love, hates commitment, and responsibilities while all Siobhan has is responsibilities.

At first meet these two immediately engage in a game of word play and light flirtation which immediately throws Cassie off her game and unexpectedly is the start to something she never imagined.

I thought this was a pretty good read for a debut book there’s not much to complain about. Loved the chemistry, loved the structure and the background characters, loved the humor, and loved the musical theater slide ins.

Siobhan was a delightful character though I wished we got more insight to her feelings about Cassie. The book switches between their pov per chapter but I feel like even when Siobhan indicated her feelings it was very short or light compared to Cassie having these deep realizations about loving Siobhan.

I really liked Cassie’s character development I think that was done really well. Loved the way she loves Siobhan’s kids though I do think it’s a tiny bit unrealistic how quickly she did.

In terms of grammar and dialogue it’s okay. There were some moments of choppiness and a little bit of confusion. I feel as though this book relied almost too heavily on dialogue to set the scene and this also becomes an issue in trying to decipher certain moods in the conversations they have. There are several moments I had to read over in attempt to garner if Cassie was being passive aggressive or joking.

There’s also a tiny bit of problem on another end of this spectrum, there’s very little diversity in the vocabulary used to describe tension filled moments or body language to the point where it does get a bit repetitive but not really bothersome to me personally.

The plot itself I absolutely love, there’s like four different layers and sets of contention in it. Never a dull moment as each chapter and scene led to a development in almost all those layers.

By the end of this book one thing is for sure, Skye Rowan isn’t afraid to take risk as she gives us such a multilayer plot. This book definitely strays away from the awkward stumbling safe debuts that we usually get and I’m excited to see where Skye Rowan goes from here. Craving Cassie was a good debut and I recommend giving it a go!

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review

Even though I sat on my review for a day (having read it through the night), what kept coming around was that for a debut, Craving Cassie was engaging, hilarious and a delight to read.

The book opens with Siobhan (pronounced as Shivon) being led to a meeting (it felt more like a lamb led to the slaughter) with the firm’s top investment banker, Cassie Townsend. In Siobhan Carney, as much as Cassie is abrasive and arrogant, she met a match in a trainee who is as unbending as she is endearing. While opposites crash, sparks also fly but with one an infamous womaniser and the other stuck in a dead marriage, a ridiculous proposal is birthed.

Siobhan, together with her quirky and adorable kids were a hilarious and loving bunch and regardless of how much of a commitment phobe Cassie proclaims to be, she can’t seem to walk. Although there were plenty of laughable moments, there was passion and at times it almost felt like the pair were experiencing love for the first time. I enjoyed all the characters in the book, their antics and will be looking forward to the author’s next book.

I just reviewed Craving Cassie by Skye Rowan. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.

I like discovering new authors and Skye Rowan is a great find. Craving Cassie is a great debut, set in London and the South East which, as a local, is great to read. Siobhan and Cassie couldn’t be more different, one is out, proud and a player and the other one is a mum of 2 stuck in a marriage she never should have been. But you know what they say about opposites. I enjoyed reading this book, 4.5 stars.

Free ARC via NetGalley.