{"id":12617,"date":"2020-03-12T19:33:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12617"},"modified":"2026-03-22T09:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:26:27","slug":"work-for-it-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12617","title":{"rendered":"Work for It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Work for It<\/a><\/em> (2019) Talia Hibbert<\/a> (Just for Him)<\/p>\n

\"Work<\/a>The world is making me feel out-of-sorts, so I decided to re-read a book I very much enjoyed.<\/p>\n

The first time around I read this book before the rest of the series (this is essentially the last book) so re-reading it after having read about the events that lead to this made it better–and I enjoyed it the first time through.<\/p>\n

Olu is struggling not to let his sister or friends know how unhappy he is. She’s pregnant, after all, and since she’s still relatively new at dealing with her diabetes he worries very much about her. As a way to keep hiding, he decides to travel, something he has done in the past to escape from himself–as well as to be himself in a world that believed him to be straight.<\/p>\n

Olu I can\u2019t remember what it\u2019s like to be happy. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as though I didn\u2019t see this coming. I have been slightly\u2026 distant all my life, so these recent changes are a natural escalation. I don\u2019t feel the things I used to, can\u2019t catch the cold echoes of emotion I was raised on or the flashes of intensity I used to hunt down and leech like a vampire. Which means it\u2019s finally happened; after thirty-eight years of fighting it, I have become an alien species.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Griffin Everett is the village outcast. <\/p>\n

Griffin<\/em>. Even that part of me is wrong, in a place like this. My mother\u2014 my tragic, scandalous, blah-blah-fucking-blah mother\u2014 gave me a weirdo name, as far as Fernley\u2019s concerned. People round here are called John or Beth or James. People round here aren\u2019t born out of wedlock, people round here aren\u2019t unnaturally massive and unnervingly quiet, people round here aren\u2019t openly into men and completely fine with it. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But he has a best friend and more importantly is very good at his job: production manager at Fernley Farm. Even better, he enjoys his job, which makes life easier.<\/p>\n

Until Keynes shows up, and then everything goes to hell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s staring a hole into you, Griff. No, don\u2019t look, you donkey. Trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?\u201d <\/p>\n

I finally take my shot and fluff it. \u201cYear 2, you told me to pick up that stinging nettle\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a flower,\u201d Rebecca interrupts. \u201cDon\u2019t be petty.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYear 3, you convinced me to nab you a jam tart off your nana\u2019s counter, and we both got\u2014\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, the first time I read this I initially thought Olu is a bit of an asshole. Yeah, he was depressed, but he was acting like a jerk. Then, I read this and decided he was ok after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cOlu,\u201d she sighs, but then she humours me and launches into a medical update that I mostly memorise. My recall is the only thing that got me through law school. I\u2019ll write it all down in my pregnancy journal later, and yes, I have a pregnancy journal, and no, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m overdoing it. My sister is diabetic. I am keeping an eye on this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Olu truly adores Lizzy and will quite clearly do anything for her. So I decided his being a jerk may well just be a result of his depression.<\/p>\n

And then he apologizes to Griff, and I loved him.<\/p>\n

Griff I adored from the start.<\/p>\n

I tell him, \u201cI am who I am. I want who I want. It doesn\u2019t matter what you call it. That\u2019s what my mum taught me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are parts of this story that are hard. Olu is depressed, and he’s buried his feelings so deep inside himself so he can protect others.<\/p>\n

That’s hard.<\/p>\n

But the story is so very good! And it’s a romance, so you know there’s a HEA! And Rebecca is a delight. Seriously, she’s wonderful.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when I said I\u2019d pay for the ivy maintenance as a compromise, he said that wasn\u2019t<\/em> a compromise. So I Googled the definition of compromise, and he said I was being petty! Can you believe that<\/em>?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a very very good story and I very much recommend it.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Nixon House
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Work for It (2019) Talia Hibbert (Just for Him) The world is making me feel out-of-sorts, so I decided to re-read a book I very much enjoyed. The first time around I read this book before the rest of the series (this is essentially the last book) so re-reading it after having read about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,668,207,148,41,26,56,934],"tags":[210,641,50,211,544,604,513,182],"class_list":["post-12617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-comfort-read","category-mental-health-rep","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-trigger-warnings","tag-anxiety","tag-bad-family","tag-boinking","tag-depression","tag-mm","tag-outing","tag-suicide","tag-talia-hibbert"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3hv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24690,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24690","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":0},"title":"That Kind of Guy","author":"Michelle","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood #3) In truth, Zach was a messy fucker who resented his own compulsion to fill in other people\u2019s gaps but couldn\u2019t make himself stop. \u201cI like being around you, Zach. Even when you\u2019re not performing.\" She\u2019d been taught so thoroughly that standing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"That Kind of Guy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/That-Kind-of-Guy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14299,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14299","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":1},"title":"That Kind of Guy","author":"Michelle","date":"May 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) (N)ecessity was the mother of every skill Zach had. Growing up poor with a busy single parent and a missing older brother had led him to learn a lot of practical shit at a very young age. The hard way. And those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"That Kind of Guy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/That-Kind-of-Guy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23376,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23376","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":2},"title":"Damaged Goods","author":"Michelle","date":"March 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Damaged Goods (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) The worst thing about Samir\u2019s parents\u2014worse than the cruelty, the manipulation, the toxicity\u2014was the fact that Samir had loved them. You would think, with the number of awful things she\u2019d done in her life, that they\u2019d all blur together. But she remembered every desperate,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Damaged Goods","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Damaged-Goods.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24688,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24688","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":3},"title":"Untouchable","author":"Michelle","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Untouchable (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood #2) If you want me to read all of this, it\u2019ll take me a while. And I\u2019ll need digital copies.\u201d \u201cYou will?\u201d He glanced up. \u201cOh, yeah. Turns out I\u2019m dyslexic.\" Zach: Want to get a drink? Hannah: No. Zach: Want to eat cookies and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Untouchable","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Untouchable.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12056,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12056","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":4},"title":"Damaged Goods","author":"Michelle","date":"August 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Damaged Goods (2018) Talia Hibbert Laura Burne is married to an abusive bastard. So she's left him, and planning to have her child on her own, to keep The Bump safe, and has returned to the place she felt safe and happy as a teenager: Beesley-On-Sea. Samir Bianchi has remained\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Damaged-Goods.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14236,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14236","url_meta":{"origin":12617,"position":5},"title":"Bad for the Boss","author":"Michelle","date":"April 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad for the Boss (2017) Talia Hibbert He turned to his right and found a group of sober-ish women. \"Excuse me; I don't know this girl, but I think someone needs to look after her.\" The women blinked at him, then at the girl, and then, as though choreographed, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bad for the Boss","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Bad-for-the-Boss.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}