SPARKS FLY

A 27-year-old woman visits a sex club hoping to lose her virginity.

Writer Stella Johnson is tired of waiting to meet the right person organically, so when her roommate plans a trip to a sex club, Stella is determined to finally take care of her pesky virginity problem once and for all. She hits it off with a handsome man, and it seems her luck has changed, but the interlude fizzles out when neither of them has a condom. Max Williams is disappointed and kicks himself for not exchanging contact information with the intriguing woman from the club. The next day, Stella is shocked to find Max in the office of the digital magazine where she works. Max owns an AI company and is her chief executive’s brother; at his brother’s request, he’s created an AI assistant to “help” the digital magazine’s staff complete research and writing tasks. Stella and her coworkers suspect this means layoffs are imminent and are determined to avoid using the new AI. Max is thrilled to see Stella again and asks her out on a date, promising a more conventional opportunity to get to know each other. Aware of the bad optics, they pledge to keep their personal lives separate from the office and embark on a charming, sexy romance. The chemistry and banter between the two lovers is the highlight of YA author Jamal’s adult romance debut, but the AI assistant plot is hard to swallow; readers are unlikely to believe Max’s shock over his brother’s Machiavellian plans to lay off the writing staff and replace their work with output from the AI.

A fine romance, despite some questionable plot points.