Reviews

The New Guy by V.C. Lancaster

katiekeske's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first half of this book was wonderful. I thought I would like it even more than the first book, but the second half was disappointing and frustrating. I hate the miscommunication trope, and this one has it bad. I don't mind cultural misunderstandings before the couple gets together, but what they go through once they are together made me think they were better off breaking up. 

I like that there were more spicy times in this one compared to the first book, but then all those scenes got tainted by the miscommunication that was going on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing and Drug abuse

Minor: Slavery, War, and Blood

taramisu's review

3.0

Definitely not as enjoyable as the first in the series, but serviceable. Darker premise.

Told in single FMC POV, which droned on and on about her insecurities in her relationship with the MMC.

For a while, I was pretty irritated with all the Big Misunderstandings, but there were very good reasons that Ro kept things from her and upon finding out the truth, it broke my heart.

pearlbrook's review

3.0

Summary: Alien/human romance set on Earth in a customer service office. No I'm not joking. Yes it makes surprisingly good reading. Alien refugees have been taken in by Earth and are taking part in society. Some of them join a human/alien communication-y type business. Maggie, Ro's new boss, falls in love with him. Alien angst happens.

Spoiler

Main pairing: Maggie/Ro
Favourite character: N/A
Villain(s)

Spoiler

Drugs, toxic masculinity and not talking about shit

Character rating: 4/10
Plot rating: 5/10
Setting rating: 9/10
Overall rating:6/10

Pros: I love the writing style of this series. It is fluffy and cute and lighthearted (sort of), easy to read and interesting at the same time. The ideas behind the plot were creative and well executed, and although I haven't read book one of this series, I didn't feel at too much of a disadvantage because the premise of the series is laid out pretty clearly.

Cons: My main problem - really my only problem - with this book is the direction of the narrative. But here's the thing: that isn't an author problem, it's a me problem. The first half of the book is super cute, Maggie and Ro are adorable together and I was fully expecting to love it right through to the end.

And then it slowly becomes clear that something is very, very wrong in the relationship. It makes for uncomfortable reading because the person you think is the hero is gaslighting, deflecting, and being aggressive towards our heroine. There's miscommunication and then there's refusing to communicate, and Ro definitely ended up in the latter category, which made me want to tear my hair out sometimes!

Now, there is a very good reason for all this which is explained near the end, and it definitely made for an interesting, unique read. I suppose you could say it challenged me as a reader? So essentially there is nothing wrong with this book as long as you are in the mood to be confronted rather than soothed. However, at the same time I think the issues that Maggie and Ro had made it difficult to cheer for their relationship throughout the book and I found myself wondering multiple times what they actually had other than mutual attraction. That led to a bit of a detachment on my part and though I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, I wasn't consuming it as fast as I could because omg I need my couple to have their HEA. That's also why I don't have a favourite character - even Maggie, likeable as she is, has serious issues and needs to grow a fucking backbone and have some necessary conflict in her relationship rather than letting really bad behaviour slide.

Final opinion: I enjoyed this read and will definitely be picking up the other books on KU. This wasn't a feel-good, blanket hug book but as long as you know that going in and are prepared to ride the rollercoaster, you'll probably have fun.

becka6131's review

5.0

I realised yesterday upon rereading this that I've never reviewed it, which is bizarre because it's my favourite of VC Lancaster's books. Maggie and Ro are one of those couples who are so into each other that everyone can see it from a mile away, but their relationship problems are also completely understandable and realistic - their drama stems mostly from miscommunication, which can be frustrating if not handled well but it works perfectly here because both Maggie and Ro have a demonstrated tendency to not want to rock the boat. Seeing them work stuff out is really satisfying, and the whole book is very well-plotted and structured.

Also, Ro is my favourite.

fibula's review

5.0

I really loved this novel, and the whole series!
Ro is such a sweet guy, and Maggie is very relatable to me... If only Ro was less paranoid about explaining things, but in the end you can understand very well why he actes a certain way.

I highly recommend the Office Aliens series, but beware: it's addicting! XD

tiffanyann's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

anabelsbrother's review

3.0

2.5-3 stars

Not as good as the first one, I feel???? because Ro annoyed me with his lack of communication

Spoiler

(oh mY GOD HE NEARLY FUCKING DIED FROM TAKING ALIEN VIAGRA JUST TO HAVE SEX WITH MAGGIE SJDVNSKVMKFVML just tell her you couldn't have sex sdufhnfjkvnd)

but I still enjoyed the story somehow??? amazing

jolie13's review

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

greystory's review

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this book for a lot of the same reasons as the first one, although I knocked it down a star due to some frustrations I'll get into.

Ro's appearance - black scales with pink eyes (and pink in other places) reminds me a lot of Xoknith from The Quarrymaster by Amanda Milo, which I found really intriguing. I was happy to see that combo in another alien romance. 

The communication difficulties - almost entirely from Ro's end - were needlessly frustrating. While there's some language barrier in that Maggie does not know Balin and Ro is new to English, it stems more from stubbornness and refusal to talk. There may be cultural differences and this is the driving reason behind Ro's reluctance to admit anything the doesn't want Maggie to know, but it seems like those are differences that Ro OR Maggie could have taken steps to bridge the gap. Maggie kind of does by asking Kez but frankly as a DETI employee, I found her lack of knowledge of some cultural stuff disappointing and it felt like she should have been able to figure out more things on her own or with other people. 

I found Maggie in general to be a tad frustrating. Not enough for me to be overly annoyed but I was a bit put off by some of her actions and behavior.

While these were frustrating, I do have to admit that the author Lancaster was good at stringing you along with the sense of mystery and wanting to know more about what's really going on. It definitely kept me reading.

As I mentioned in my review of book 1, the ET Guy, VC Lancaster also has a bad habit of writing a lot of filler detail in addition to the interesting detail. I don't really need every step of someone getting ready spelled out for me. I don't need an entire chapter of someone's inner thoughts when they aren't building character or plot or adding anything to the story. It felt like the 300+ page book could have been shorter because of that - and that's a weird thing for me to say. I'm usually always wishing for more! But when I say that, I don't mean mindless filler, I mean relevant story. The good shit.

redhairedashreads's review

3.0

Maggie and Ro. Co-workers. Slow building. Instant attraction.

Ro, a Balin, is a new coworker who Maggie is instantly attracted to. Their relationship wasn't without issues though. There is a major cultural difference that they gave to overcome, on top of dealing with Ro not telling all the facts.

This was a nice slow building alien romance. I really love the unique aliens in this world. I liked this couple but I didn't like that Ro wasn't honest and forthcoming from the beginning.