REVIEW: RISKY BUSINESS by Annabelle Slator

Risky Business by Annabelle Slator: Jess Cole is fighting to keep her startup alive in a tech world that keeps overlooking her — and she’s done playing fair. When desperation hits, she makes a risky call: she enters a high-stakes startup competition under her twin brother’s name. Suddenly doors open. Funding feels possible. The problem? Jess now has to pretend she’s just the “assistant” while her actor brother plays CEO.

Dropped into a glamorous, pressure-packed European tech competition, Jess juggles lies, impossible promises, and the constant fear of being exposed — all while catching feelings for Oliver, another assistant who sees her when she’s not trying to prove anything. What starts as a clever workaround quickly becomes a tangle of mistaken identities, power imbalances, and very real emotions.

Risky Business blends sharp humor, high-stakes career tension, and romance into a story about being seen, being heard, and deciding what risks are finally worth taking. Annabelle Slator does a great job highlighting how exhausting it can be -to be capable and still overlooked — and how tempting it can be to step aside just to get your foot in the door.

What stood out most for me was Jess as a heroine. She’s competent, frustrated, and constantly adapting to survive in spaces that weren’t built for her. The romance is flirty and fun, but also rooted in respect and recognition — that moment when someone sees who you really are, even when you’re pretending to be someone else.

Risky Business balances humor with substance, delivering a rom-com that’s entertaining without being shallow and romantic without losing its bite.

Tropes & Vibes:

• Hidden identity
• Slow-burn connection
• Workplace romance
• One-night stand to something more
• Forced proximity
• Fish-out-of-water moments
• Tech-world romance
• High-stakes competition

Readers who love whip-smart rom-coms with bite, career-driven heroines, sharp social commentary, international settings, and romances that balance humor with real stakes will enjoy this book.

QOTD: Would you risk being misunderstood if it meant finally being taken seriously?

Book Info:

Publication: February 3, 2026 | Avon |

When tech founder Jess Cole is struggling to gain funding for her company, she begins to wonder if it’s because she’s a woman in the male-dominated tech industry—especially due to a former incident and subsequent NDA that’s been following her for years. In an act of financial desperation, she applies to a competition for start-ups using her twin brother Spencer’s name, pretending to be a man. To her surprise, it works! As though she’s discovered the ultimate industry cheat code, Jess and Spencer are invited into the exclusive world of Tech Rumble, an annual innovation competition hosted on the world’s stage by tech darling Dominic Orsino.

Spencer, an out-of-work actor, must pretend to be the CEO, and Jess must become his loyal “assistant,” Violet. Spencer is thrust into the limelight; charming Dominic and the competition judges but making promises Jess can’t keep—or afford.

“Violet” is introduced to the handsome Oliver, a fellow assistant who shows her how to let her hair down and enjoy life outside the pressures of her job. But she soon discovers falling for Oliver is riskier than any mistake Spencer has made.

During wild nights with Oliver in Rome, secret rendezvous in Paris, and luxurious parties in Vienna, Jess must navigate the competition and try to stay on top of her lies, especially when someone from her past comes sniffing around, putting her ruse at risk