a deep dive into the complexities of relationships, desire, and self-discovery, especially when it comes to navigating power dynamics, infidelity, and the clash between professional roles and personal feelings. The central relationship between Diana, the mature, goal-oriented boss, and Laurie, her self-assured yet conflicted Personal Assistant, is charged with sexual tension and emotional complexity from the start.

What makes the story intriguing is how both characters try to justify their actions—seeing their rendezvous as "harmless" and "innocent," even while knowing that the consequences could be far more significant than they realize. The moment of recklessness that forces them into a standstill is likely the tipping point that compels both to reflect on their decisions and their futures, which could lead to some unexpected growth for both characters.

To be honest I have no clue how the title of the book ties into the story of the book. As far as there is a story.

Laurie gets a job as a personal assistent to Diana, a big shot lawyer. Things get hot and heavy between them and to be honest it was not my style. The scenes are hot sure, but the whole bossy thing and giving over control wasn't my thing. I'm sure there's a market for it, it just wasn't for me.

The storyline in between the hot scenes were all right although obviously mostly filler.

2,5 stars for me.

An ARC was given to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

This was a fun sapphic romance. Office romance, forbidden. You could really feel the steam! You could really feel the connection between Laurie and Diana! It was nice to see the process of Diana finding out who she really is!

I love workplace romances, the secrecy around them, the forbidden and this story has all of it. I enjoyed reading how Diana iciness melted little by little for Laurie.

Also, I love queer awakening stories and this one was good. The way Diana, with Laurie's help, started to know and understand part of herself, how all the pieces started to fall into place and a lot of things started to make sense to her.

It's my first book by the author and I really enjoyed it.


Also, I read some reviews mentioning that this book was originally The Devil Wears Prada fanfiction and that made me like it more. Some scenes are even similar but reimagined.

I very much enjoyed The X Ingredient. Diana was a married partner in a law firm and Laura was her PA, and she was gay. Diana didn't know about that until one of her clients made a comment to Laura and Laura told her that she didn't do boys. This truth sent Diana into a tailspin. The news caught her off guard because she thought Laura had a boyfriend.

And then, one day out of the clear blue, Diana accosted Laura in the elevator with a sizzling kiss, and that was just the beginning. After the kiss and hot sex with Laura, Diana asked her husband, John, for a divorce. Their marriage had been on the rocks for quite some time and she'd had enough.

And hot sex they had. They said it was just sex, not a relationship. But Laura was totally taken with Diana. And Diana was absolutely smitten with Laura, even though she didn't have a name for it. When Laura asked Diana if she was gay, she denied it. So the affair went on for weeks and weeks.

Diana and John had a huge home, a mansion really. In the divorce. Diana was going to get the house. She'd had him sign a prenup so she was going to get a lot more than the house.

As their non-relationship progressed, they got more and more into each other, in spite of Diana's denial. But eventually, John hired PI and found out about them. He used it to blackmail Diana into giving him the house and everything else. He threatened to tell everyone about them and he promised to ruin her reputation. He gave her 48 hours to make the decision. In all of this, her entire goal was to protect Laura. So she broke up with her without giving her a reason. And the next day Diana didn't go to work. While Laura was in the office, she was talking with one of her co-workers who told her that Diana was giving up everything in the divorce and that surely her husband had something on her. Laura figured it out. So she went to Diana's apartment to confront her.

Oh, how I would love to say more about this story but I don't want to spoil it. Suffice it to say that it was sizzling. The sex scenes were a real turn on and the characters were extremely believable. If this were a true story, I would have difficulty not believing it. I liked the way the author took the reader through all of Diana's angst and the way she couldn't get enough of Laura. There was an 18-year age difference between the two, but it obviously didn't matter. I liked this book so much that I'm going to read it again. I gave it five stars.

“The X Ingredient” delves into a workplace, boss/employee, age gap, ice queen, late in coming out in life f/f romance with plenty of erotica, throwing in a Southern aspect (it takes place in Atlanta) and some ethnic diversity (a lead is part Vietnamese and white).
If you're looking for a book hot enough to possibly make you hyperventilate, read this. That's all.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story and the spice was very, very nice.

I feel the cover doesn't accurately represent what the book is about.

I have read a few books by Roslyn Sinclair before so was excited to see this one back on NetGalley. The X ingredient didn't disappoint.. This was a quick, fun, and sometimes steamy read. Thank you NetGalley for the access to this title.

DNF at 13%

Really boring and unrealistic with the way the MC was acting. In no world would she have gotten that job with the way she was talking to the boss.

First of all thanks NetGalley for the arc.

I’m kind of disappointed by this read, I had high hopes for this story but it ended up being underwhelming.

I did enjoy the characters, but I really struggled to see their chemistry. Their relationship was rocky and I just think that I don’t like the boss/employee dynamic. The power imbalance is too strong tbh.

The sex scenes were reaaally well written and I’m so sad I didn’t connect with the characters more.

The writing was good ! And I’ll probably try other book from the author, sadly this one wasn’t it for me.

The X Ingredient is a sweet story, depicting the romantic development between two woman; Laurie and Diana. It is a "coming out" story and the way in which Diana comes to accept who she is beautifully told. There are plently of steamy romance scenes; I found them more romantic than erotic; the two characters are very conscious of gently exploring each other's tastes, especially when considering Laurie is so much more experienced with lesbian experiences, than Diana. That's not to say that the scenes are not toe-curling spicy, but rather that you can see that couple are very much enamoured with one another. The author develops the romance between the two characters well, and their interactions are "slow-burn" despite their attraction to one another being instantaneous.

Saying that, I did find the plot slow-moving, as I wasn't expecting the plot to be primarily focussed on just the development of their romantic relationship (I rather thought this would be a secondary plot point and there would be an underlying story relating to their jobs in legal). I wanted to know more about Laurie's backstory and career plans for example, which was hinted at in the first couple chapters.

I think if you go in reading this as a love story, you'd be happy rating it a 4/5 star, but if, like me, you came at it at a different angle, I found the pacing began to get slower as the book progressed and I realised there wasn't going to be any further plot development.

I'm very grateful for the advanced reader's copy, and would recommend this as a romance book, particularly appropriate for pride month :)

Well this book was fun!

Here we have a sapphic, workplace, big age gap, lesbian awakening, erotic novel about a boss that doesn't know she's into women, and the assistant that proves to her that she is.

I did pair the kindle version with the audio version and Anastasia Watley does an incredible job! Being able to go back and forth on POVs with different voices throughout the book was pretty masterful. It was so well done and performed.

Diana is a high powered lawyer in Atlanta looking for an assistant and Laurie, pink haired and starry eyed needs a job. Diana is immediately drawn to her but also married to a man, and upon separating from him decides to get into an "arrangement" with Laurie. A very erotic and sexy arrangement.

This book is very spicy and full of workplace drama. I also loved that the "boss" in this book was not the one in control in the bedroom which fit as it's Diana that's coming to grips with her sexuality.

I only took off a star because I like more emotions... but it was still so good, so hot, such a great audio version!

Thanks to NetGalley for the E-Book version!

The X Ingredient is my first book by this author. I did see the film The Devil Wears Prada which was fantastic. And this book was like a version of DWP, a good version. I would put this in the erotic-romance category.

This wasn't what I expected from this book when I read the blurb, it was so much better to be honest.
I had never before read a book from Roslyn Sinclair, but only after reading a few chapters, I found myself looking for my next read of this author.
Reading this, it was hard to put down, with amazingly written spicy scenes and a great plot that ties it all together. I often feel like one part is more important than the other, while in this novel, they both complemented each other and lifted the story to an even higher level.
It was only afterwards that I learned that this is based on the DWP fanfic and I can definitely see some comparisons, but I hadn't thought about it while actually reading the book.
If you're looking for a hot for boss, coming out, age gap book, this is definitely one I can advise you to read.

This was phenomenal. I am so glad that I was able to read this - I love sapphic romances. And age gap romance? They make me feral. I need to read more of Roslyn's work.

This was an awesome novel! I have been meaning to read this one for a while (as the other novels I have read by this author were amazing) so I was very excited when I saw the opportunity to get a copy off NetGalley. I have seen this novel highly recommended, and I agree completely! A+, recommend to all!

Highlights:
-The spice, is so nice! There are plenty of spicy scenes and they are very detailed, well written, and…..well, spicy! The dirty talk is specifically something that was very well done, so if that’s something you like then this novel delivers.
-The writing is excellent (not just the spicy scenes!). The author did a great job of getting the reader into the heads of the characters and giving each character a clear and different voice. The excellent writing resulted in excellent characters as well. The author excelled at showing-not-telling.
-The sections where one of the characters was in “disaster panic mode” were simply delightful.
-One of the characters struggled with their sexuality, and I think this was handled very well and realistically. The novel benefitted from this being so well done, both in terms of storyline and representation.

Nitpicks:
-This novel was remarkably insta-lusty for me, which I usually don’t prefer. It wasn’t too bad, but there could have been a little more ramp-up in the early parts of the novel. I found it somewhat surprising as well considering the background (in regards to relationships) of the older character.
-The ending was somewhat fast for me. It wasn’t bad, but it did stick out to me that it was a little abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

"The X Ingredient" by Roslyn Sinclair is an intense and captivating read that leans more towards erotica than contemporary romance. The book is heavy on attraction and lust, especially in the beginning, but it also provides a meaningful exploration of Diana's journey in accepting her sexuality. While the development of the relationship between Laurie and Diana could have been deeper, the story’s focus on Diana’s personal growth was fulfilling. This book left me happy and eager for more, knowing Diana and Laurie’s story is just beginning.

Although probably more erotica than contemporary romance, The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair still packs an emotional punch and I was still thinking about it days after I had finished reading. This book is very heavy on the attraction and lust, but not as much on the developing relationship between Laurie and Diana later in the book and you know what, I was ok with that. The story is more about Diana acknowledging her attraction to women and being ok with that than about her and Laurie falling in love.

Normally I’d feel a little let down but this book is so good it just left me feeling happy and knowing that Diana and Laurie’s story wasn’t over, I was just privileged enough to see the beginning.

First I’d like to thank @netgalley & @writingroslyn for my copy of The X Ingredient.
Second, I absolutely L O V E D this book! Holy snap! And it was HOT 🥵
A perfect book to read during pride month.
I felt myself relating to Laurie so much, and empathizing for Diana. As a bisexual myself, I’ve always been comfortable and confident with who I am (like Laurie) and my heart hurts for the people who find themselves later in life due to fear and ignorance. People who don’t get the chance to come out on their own. Such a feel good story, in more ways than one thank yoooooou.

What you’ll find in The X Ingredient:
🖤F/F
🖤Age gap
🖤Boss and Assistant
🖤Grumpy/kinda sunshine lmao.

The dialogue felt awkward; I didn't sense any chemistry between the main characters; their relationship seemed rushed, and the ending was predictable.