Technically Yours

Starred review from October 1, 2023

After a scandal rocks OurCode, a nonprofit that inspires high schoolers, particularly of marginalized identities, to code, Pearl Harris must step up as acting director. Not only does Pearl have new responsibilities and an organizational reputation to repair but she also finds herself back in the company of coding expert Cord Matthews, the CEO of FitMe. Five years ago, Pearl left FitMe after realizing that she and Cord were falling in love, something that previously heartbroken Pearl was not willing to risk. Now Cord finds Pearl just as captivating as the first time they danced around their feelings, even if he vowed to never fall in love again. With both their hearts and their workplaces on the line, the two coders must find the right fix for their glitched start. VERDICT In flashback-laden, dual-POV style, Williams (Do You Take This Man) uploads her best yet contemporary romance, full of complex characters, the highs and lows of being a Black woman in STEM, and plenty of steam. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Jasmine Guillory and Chloe Liese.--Elizabeth Gabriel

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November 1, 2023
Former co-workers who didn't quite get together back then find themselves working together and drawn to each other five years later. Pearl Harris has returned to Chicago following a stint in California. After she'd been drooling over Cord Matthews, the co-founder of the company at which she'd worked for years, they had evolved from co-workers to friends, but then he became her boss. At that time, a lot of touching and flirting led to a consensual encounter in a stopped elevator at work. But as much as Pearl was interested in Cord, she had career aspirations that she was unwilling to put second and moved to California for a job. Cord has never stopped thinking of Pearl, and when he finds himself being asked to serve on the board of the nonprofit where Pearl is now the acting interim director, he's all in. The pair finds themselves drawn together. Despite the fact that the prior director was asked to resign in part for having a sexual relationship with a board member, the pair hook up twice at a board camping trip and begin an ongoing relationship Pearl defines as casual. Cord wants so much more, but she is focused on work and scared to let herself love another person. Chapters alternate between Pearl's and Cord's points of view on the evolution of their past and current relationships, and much time is spent focusing on suggestive looks, daydreams about sexual encounters, and a tremendous number of lingering touches that would set off HR alarm bells anywhere--even as the pair feels they are keeping their relationship a secret. Elements of second-chance, friends-to-lovers, forbidden-love, and soul-mate tropes combine in this book, which also brings in the complexities of workplace politics. A romance heavy on physicality and light on character development.

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November 20, 2023
Former lovers are reunited in the workplace in this flawed second-chance romance from Williams (The Love Connection). Five years ago, Cord Matthews fell in love with fellow computer programmer Pearl Harris, but when Pearl was forced to choose between him and her career, she went with her head over her heart and moved away, leaving Cord heartbroken and wary of love. Now Pearl’s boss at the nonprofit OurCode, which aims to teach teens computer science, has been accused of embezzling, leaving an opening on the board of directors—and who should fill it but Cord. The pair are shocked to be reunited and try to keep each other at arm’s length—but their chemistry is undeniable. Unable to resist each other, they agree to keep their affair casual and on the down low so as not to jeopardize their careers. As old feelings reemerge and old wounds reopen, however, their fling enters rocky waters. Though the conflict feels thin, Cord is the kind of caring and supportive hero romance readers will adore. Pearl, for her part, is admirably strong and intelligent, but the intensity with which she pushes Cord away and, later, tries to control their relationship grows tiresome. This is best suited for Williams’s diehard fans. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

November 1, 2023
Pearl is at her first big event for OurCode, an organization that helps teens, when scandal rocks her new company. She is thrust into a new role as interim director and has to give a talk, something that terrifies her. She survives only to realize Cord, the love of her life (and a character from Williams' The Fastest Way to Fall, 2021), is about to join the board of OurCode. She hasn't had any contact with him in five years. Cord brings a date to the event, but he has never been able to stop thinking about Pearl. The second-chance trope is popular for good reason, and Williams (Do You Take This Man, 2022) makes excellent use of it as her two protagonists welcome the sizzling chemistry between them while keeping their relationship quiet to help OurCode avoid another scandal. Realistic conflict along with searing emotion and flashbacks to Pearl and Cord's first go-round make for a uniquely terrific romance.

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