Book Review: Who's Afraid of Mr Wolfe? by Hazel Osmond

Ellie Somerset is a girl who had her life set out in front of her. She loves her job as a copywriter at an advertising firm, working alongside her best friend Lesley, and also loves her career-obsessed boyfriend Sam very much. But when things start going wrong between the pair, Ellie oddly starts to find herself attracted to her dark and brooding new boss, Jack Wolfe. He isn't the type of man to have an affair with one of his employees, but Ellie can't help her feelings and starts to wonder whether she's just imagining the looks she is getting from Jack across the meeting room. However, Jack Wolfe isn't all he seems, and soon secrets start to be revealed which shock Ellie to her core. Is Ellie really afraid of Mr Wolfe, or is it he who is afraid of her?

If I'm honest, I received this book some time ago but I just put it on myself as I hadn't heard of it and it wasn't a priority for me to read because of that. However, when I came to choose a new book, something about this jumped out at me so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did because this book is an absolute gem, and certainly hasn't got the publicity that it deserves. It is truly a modern love story, with a strong heroine, and a handsome dark and brooding "hero" and I loved everything about it. The glittery purple, blue and white cover is gorgeous,and I really hope my review puts this book on more people's radar because it is a joy to read.



There aren't many characters in this book, but I actually prefer books like that. We meet Ellie Somerset, a young woman stable in her job and relationship but soon things start to go awry for her. Enter Jack Wolfe, her new boss at her advertising company, and someone all the women in the workplace love to ogle at whenever he's around. The only downfall is that he doesn't seem to be a very nice person, something Ellie wants to try and remedy when she develops a bit of a crush on Jack. Ellie is a fantastic character, she isn't driven by her relationships with men, she has her own life, her own friends and if she has a boyfriend, that's a bonus. It's refreshing to see such a character in the chick lit genre, and I instantly liked her, and she made me want to continue reading.

Jack was a fantastic character, and I adored him simply because he seemed to be one thing but I was convinced he was something else entirely! Osmond keeps us guessing about him throughout the book, throwing us the odd curveball and I liked how the relationship between he and Ellie was constantly evolving, it certainly kept me on my toes. Another character I loved was Edith, Ellie's eccentric aunt who she lives with. She's hilarious and rude, certainly not a relative I'd love myself but she sure made for funny reading! I love that Osmond has such a wide range of characters, there's is definitely someone in there for every reader to relate to or just  like.

The book is written in the third person which I felt worked well for this particular book. Although we don't at any point follow anyone except for Ellie, I really liked Osmond's writing style, quite informal with a friendly tone that keeps you reading. The language used is perfect for the book, and I just found it to be a very pleasant reading experience. There are some sex scenes throughout the book, which are quite prolific in the middle third of the book, and while I found they were perfectly acceptable in the book and didn't feel too crude and out of place, they may not be to some readers tastes so do be aware of these, but as I say, compared to a lot of sex scenes in chick lit, they are quite tame and sit in the story very well.

As you can probably tell, I really loved every page of this book and really didn't want it to end. I liked how Ellie was a strong female lead character, how Jack was more than a one dimensional male love interest and there is plenty going on in the book to keep the reader entertained and intrigued in the book. One of the most touching things in the whole book was the relationship between Ellie and her elderly aunt Edith, it is so well written and beautifully done, and I liked how this ran equally alongside the main story, right up until the end. I really did enjoy this book so much, I can highly recommend it to anyone and think Hazel Osmond is a new talent to get really excited about if this book is anything to go by!

Rating: 5/5