Roslyn Sinclair

The X Ingredient

Renee

First thoughts - How dare she? How dare Roslyn Sinclair write a book that leaves me all googly-eyed and wanting more of Diana “Erotic Ice Queen of the Decade” Parker and Laurie “Talented in More Ways than One” Holcombe. No way can I read The X Ingredient one time and come close to writing a helluva review. Excuse me while I go get my eyesight back, reread the book, and reflect some more. Damn, I’ll be back.

Lucia Correa

4 Stars for Roslyn Sinclair’s second published novel. This story is told very effectively from both of the MC’s point of views.

The X Ingredient is very loosely based on Sinclair’s unfinished Devil Wears Prada (DWP) fanfic with the same name. (writing as Tenalu). The similarities are there - an Ice Queen boss, an assistant, age-gap, sizzling sex scenes and perhaps the dynamic between Boss and assistant. However, I think with the two mains being different enough from Miranda/Andy, it was easy for me to dismiss the DWP vibes. For example, I quickly stopped picturing Diana as Miranda when very early on Diana says she missed her Mom’s Pho. Oh, she is Vietnamese! (turns out she is half).

I loved the two mains. Forty-six year old, Diana Parker is the founder of a top Southeast law firm, Parker, Lee & Rusch that is based in Atlanta. Her longtime personal assistant has been promoted to another branch and she gave Diana three possible replacement candidates. One of the candidates is twenty-eight year old, Laurie Holcombe. She has no experience in a law firm or as a PA and was recently laid off as an office manager. She tries to convince Diana that her future ambition is to be a lawyer and the pink streak in her hair is temporary. I loved Laurie’s reaction when she first sees Diana – she gave the “gayest gasp” and is sure Diana heard. “Good Lord above, she’s gorgeous. Nobody told me that. I wasn’t ready” Diana isn’t sure why herself, but she decides to hire Laurie despite there being a more qualified applicant. As it turns out, Laurie develops to be her best PA.

The remainder of the book is their amazing chemistry and developing relationship with office politics and personal dramas thrown in. One such drama is that Diana is currently married to a man and it has been a rocky marriage for some time. The first “romantic” encounter between Diana and Laurie threw me for a loop. I didn’t expect that. I had to put the book down for a day, not sure what the fall out and the next chapters would bring. Yeah, I knew eventually, somehow it would work out. But I still had to stop for a bit. (Sometimes, I’m a wuss)

Did I mention that Sinclair knows how to write hot! sex scenes?

I’m looking forward to Sinclair’s next book.

Jude Silberfeld

4.5*

Phew, that was hot!

I wish I hadn’t known this was based on DWP fanfic, because it took me a while to get the images from the movie out of my mind and let new ones appear. Not that I have anything against fanfic but this is so well-written that it doesn’t need any visual aid.

Diana Parker is a hotshot lawyer in Atlanta looking for an assistant. Laurie Holcombe is a sociology student from Zebulon, Georgia, hoping to get to law school while paying her bills. She doesn’t seem like the right fit for the job but Diana soon learns that where Laurie is concerned, what seems wise might not actually be wise. Diana is so deep into the closet that acknowledging her attraction to Laurie kinda feels like the end of the world, and then feelings get into play and it gets even worse. But before that, the two women agree on some sort of arrangement that is supposed to protect Laurie from feeling used by her boss (and from getting her heart broken) and Diana from taking responsibility for her actions and admitting she might be gay (she’s married to a man and all that). It also inadvertently prevents them from talking about what they really want and feel. Which in a way makes the sex even hotter since it’s desperate.

So obviously the sex was steamy – and not repetitive, which is in itself remarkable when there’s so much of it – but what really got to me were the tender gestures, as reluctant as they were. Every time Laurie asked Diana if she’s okay, my heart sighed.

This ice queen / age gap / workplace erotic romance was my first book by this author, and this time I know why. It’s because I can be stubborn and foolishly snobbish when it comes to books (or movies or TV series) that everyone seems to love. It probably goes back to when I was a teenager and my way of coping with feeling different from every one else was to pretend I was above the hype. I’ve had Truth and Measure by Telanu (Sinclair’s fanfic pen name) at hand forever and never got around to reading it. Same with The Lily and the Crown. From the reviews I’ve read, they’re even more delightful than this, so my loss, obviously. The good news is, it’s never too late to set things right.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

The X Ingredient

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