When your job is on the line…

Synopsis

Ruby Oldbridge needs to learn to take her own advice. 

A brilliant counsellor at work in York, she is however floundering in her own life. Her romantic track record is woeful, her finances are in a pickle, and she’s back in a house-share after splitting up with her useless ex.

But one thing Ruby is brilliant at, is helping other people find a way through their problems, and she excels at the job she loves, doing just that. 

Happy-go-lucky, Mr Positivity, Zac Drewe also loves his job – the trouble is, it’s the same as Ruby’s, and the management have decided to ‘rationalise’ their department. There’s only room for one of them.

As the snow and winter close in on York, Ruby and Zac have everything to lose, and Ruby starts to wonder if the happy face Zac shows the world, might be disguising a sadder secret. 

Set against one another, they are unlikely friends. But perhaps, if they could take the time to understand each other, they might discover that rather than rivals, they could be the best thing that ever happened to one another…

My review

Ruby is not in a very happy place. After splitting with her boyfriend, her finances aren’t that great and she finds herself sharing a house with others.
Luckily, she still has a job she is good in, and not unimportant, she is the only one at the firm being a counsellor, helping people to find the job of their dreams, and solving the problems they struggle with.
But when suddenly there is a merge planned, she has to fight for not losing her place to Zac Drewe, aka Mr. Positivity.
But Zac also is ready to fight for his place, because he also has a lot to lose if the job isn’t his…
However, in the dark months of winter, Zac shows how kind – hearted he truly is, and even if they are played against each other, a friendship is slowly being made.
And Ruby learns that Zac has his own demons to face. So in the end, who will keep the job? And what will be the consequences? 

I always know from the start that I will love reading a new story from this magnificent author.
So before I began, I made sure I was comfortable, wouldn’t be disturbed for a while and I let myself dream away with again an amazing story. 

While getting to know Ruby better, and knowing what she had endured in the past, I surely wanted her to keep the job. Not only did she lose the boyfriend (not that I wanted her to keep THAT boyfriend), but splitting up and losing the house and having debts all over, made sure she lost it a little bit.
And then you find yourself sharing your house with other people, isn’t surely a great step forward for anyone… 

But I have to say, even if I pitied Ruby, and for that reason only, she deserved to keep the job, she is actually really good at it! She truly understand the people she is seeing and is great at discovering what each of one actually dreams to do for a living. 

However, when Zac enters the story, and his reality is revealed, my heart just broke…
The lengths he goes for his beloved ones, is just admiring. Not many would do what he Is trying to do. And that left me just in awe of his character, especially because he tries to see the positive in just everything. Of course, knowing his situation made it an impossible choice whom should have the job. 

It would have been easy for the author to make this a story of real nemeses, not afraid of playing dirty and just keeping an eye on the prize.
But I loved how Ruby and Zac saw how they were being played and decided to put their heads together.
And then reading how their relation evolved, it made me just swoon all over the place!

The author also turned the attention to some subjects that somehow are still taboo and points out that there is nothing to be ashamed of being in need of help. Life doesn’t always go as expected and sometimes we need that extra help to cope with everything we have to face.

But I found it inspiring that sometimes, one decision made above our heads, can be the catalyst of thinking about our own future. And is the life we are living at this moment, what we dreamed of? Or should we dare to jump into the unknown and dare to chase our dream for a better future?

Not only did I found this a beautiful, warming story to read, but also a story that made me think about how easily we just go with the flow, how we just sit comfortable in the position we are currently in.
The characters in the end did the only right thing that there was to do, and I found it a perfect example of how satisfying and rewarding doing the right thing can be.
I loved it, is there really more that I can say?