Bad for Business Book Review - No Spoilers
This morning Colorado Springs woke up to the most bizarre weather—brilliant sunshine streaming through my window while a storm was brewing on the horizon. I stood there with my mug watching the sky shift from clear to cloudy in minutes, thinking how weather can change on a dime. Relationships can be like that too. One moment everything feels impossible, the next you're questioning why you ever fought it. That's exactly the energy in Bad for Business, where Camille and Ryker spend most of their summer fighting against something that was probably inevitable from the moment they met on New Year's Eve.
Plot Summary
Bad for Business by Kat Singleton is the second book in the Pembroke Hills series. Camille works at her father's prestigious PR firm in New York and desperately wants to make partner. When her father offers her a chance to prove herself by rehabilitating billionaire heir Ryker Davenport's public image, she jumps at it—despite their complicated history. Camille and Ryker shared an incredible New Year's Eve night together, but she ghosted him the next morning, and he never understood why. Now she's assigned to be his publicist and essentially his babysitter for the summer in the Hamptons, keeping him out of trouble so the board will approve him to lead his family's company. Ryker doesn't want a handler and sees Camille as overbearing and controlling. She sees him as reckless and immature. But forced proximity has a way of turning hate into heat, and their constant bickering slowly transforms into something neither of them expected. This is a hate-to-love, black cat x golden retriever, second chance romance set in the glamorous Hamptons.
Why I Love This Book
I love how Bad for Business captures that delicious tension when two people are fighting their attraction so hard it becomes exhausting. Camille is a black cat heroine—stressed, driven, desperate for her father's approval, and convinced she's unlovable. Ryker is the golden retriever who seems like he has it all together on the surface but is actually acting out because of his own pain. Watching them go from genuinely annoying each other to understanding why they both act the way they do is satisfying. The yearning and pining between them is intense. I appreciate that Kat Singleton doesn't shy away from showing Camille's struggles with her misogynistic father and her need to prove herself. Ryker's growth from acting like a spoiled heir to showing his genuine caring side is well done. The Hamptons setting adds glamour, and the forced proximity trope delivers on all the tension you want.
Who Will Like This Book
If you enjoy hate-to-love romance, black cat x golden retriever dynamics, forced proximity, publicist/client relationships, billionaire romance, or second chances after a one night stand, you'll love this story. The book delivers on banter, tension, and steamy scenes. It's perfect for readers who like their heroines stressed and driven and their heroes secretly soft underneath the swagger. Fans of Kat Singleton's writing will appreciate her signature style of emotional depth mixed with spice. The book works as a standalone but is enhanced if you've read the first Pembroke Hills book. The spice level is moderate to high with multiple steamy chapters. If you're looking for summer vibes with emotional growth and characters who make each other better, this delivers.
⚠️ Trigger warning: misogyny, parental emotional neglect, family pressure, workplace stress, miscommunication, past one night stand, moderate to explicit sexual content
Tagged As
contemporary romance, billionaire romance, hate to love, enemies to lovers, black cat x golden retriever, forced proximity, publicist/client, Hamptons setting, Pembroke Hills series, book 2, second chance, one night stand, summer romance, workplace romance, family drama, emotional growth, standalone, HEA
Steam Level
🌶️🌶️🌶️ Moderate
The book features open-door intimate scenes with multiple steamy chapters. The spice is slightly more dialed down compared to the first book in the series but still delivers heat and emotional connection. Kat Singleton writes scenes that feel intimate and meaningful to the relationship without overpowering the emotional storyline.
