Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass

Aggie the Horrible vs. Max the Pompous Ass by Lisa Wells. Entangled Publishing

In the last eighteen months, Aggie has had numerous jobs and hasn’t stuck to even one of them. Meemaw, her grandmother, has raised her from a young age and she still lives with her. Max owns his own business and has a bet with his father, with whom he constantly butts heads, to win. It just happens his grandmother, his closest family ally, makes the acquaintance of Meemaw, and soon they hatch a plan to get their grandchildren together. Because they are sure Aggie and Max are perfect for each other. Their plan starts out with getting Max to hire Aggie to replace his assistant, who is on pregnancy leave. The plan doesn’t exactly go off without a hitch but they are soon working together, if only because both are stubborn. And they definitely aren’t falling for the meddlesome grandmas.

This is a take on the enemies to lovers trope and it’s an enjoyable read for the most part. Both Aggie and Max have a bit of baggage from their pasts which gets in the way of them being happy with their lives. And both have some sort of chip on the shoulder, although I think it’s far bigger in Aggie’s case because she is so focused on the poverty of her life that she acts a bit foolish about some things. On the other hand, she does have some charming skills and they seem to be an asset to Max’s business and life.

I found this quite funny at the beginning and then it kind of plateaued for most of the rest of the book with a few peaks towards the end. The lack of proper communication forms the basis of a temporary parting near the end of the book and I’d have liked that to have been a bit better. But then both of the main characters do have some issues to overcome.

Overall this was a fun read and I give it 3.5 stars. I’d like to thank Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for freely providing an advanced reader copy. I’ve submitted this review completely voluntarily.