REVIEW: The Assignment by Penelope Ward

In The Assignment by Penelope Ward, Aspyn Dumont has come to appreciate her rather uncomplicated life raising her eight year old niece Kiki and working at an elderly care facility as the activities coordinator. She’s met some wonderful people at Horizons, one of which is Mr. Serrano–an absolute sweetheart of a man. So Aspyn is pretty shocked to find out that his grandson is none other than her former arch nemesis, Troy. The same guy who cheated on her closest friend, Jasmine, back in high school. It leaves Aspyn wondering how the two men can be related and act so differently. But as they get to know each other while she chaperones Troy’s outings with his grandfather, can Aspyn really believe he’s the good guy he now appears to be?

‘I had trust issues that had nothing to do with Troy. And if I let them ruin this, he had no reason not to return to Seattle for good.’

If he has anything to do with it, Troy will spend his days and nights trying to make up for his checkered past. And to prove that the connection he feels with Aspyn is the real deal. Something that’s worth nurturing. He knows she’s not going to make it easy, atoning for his sins, and rightly so. But Troy also knows he’s lucky to have the chance to make things right. So even if he has to take advice from his beloved Nonno to find a way to convince Aspyn they belong together, he’ll do it. As long as he’s the right person to bring all of her dreams to light and to make her as happy as she deserves to be, he can’t ask for more.

‘I might have fantasized once or twice about how that energy between us would translate to the bedroom, what it would be like to make her lose her mind to the point that she no longer cared whether she hated me.’

An angsty, hot as sin romance that was a little taboo and whole lot sexy, The Assignment was the perfect reminder of why I enjoy Penelope Ward’s work so much.

‘Troy Serrano’s sex appeal had never been up for debate. Not then and not now.
It was his soul that was questionable.’

Hot! The Assignment was all about the undeniable chemistry between former high school enemies Aspyn and Troy. And wow was it a messy situation for them to traverse. Between the bad blood from when Troy cheated on Aspyn’s best friend Jasmine over ten years ago to Aspyn’s own trust issues and Troy’s abandonment issues, it was a lot to sort out. They also had to do some soul searching to figure out just what they wanted their individual futures to look like before they could commit to a full fledged relationship.

I expected to somewhat dislike Troy based on his past. And I went in thinking I’d be rooting for Aspyn from the start. But it quickly went the other way: I was cheering on Troy to redeem himself and capture Aspyn’s heart, while I wanted her to finally let go of the past and give him–and them–a chance. Ward did great with their quick, flirty bantering (and Troy’s dirty talk! *fans face*) and by pulling more of their own backgrounds into the scenes, explaining why Aspyn and Troy made certain choices. Especially the twist towards the end, an element that brought things full circle.

Two other characters who had big roles to fill in this story and who made me smile continuously: Aspyn’s niece Kiki and Troy’s grandfather Mr. Serrano, aka Nonno the romance guru. Loved. Them. So much. Mr. Serrano was the sweetest man who was pretty darn clever–and it was easy to see that charm ran in the family, as we could tell with Troy, too. And Kiki, she was one smart eight year old. Wise beyond her years, she brought light and laughter into Aspyn’s life. I adored their relationship. I’ll admit I also swooned a wee bit when Kiki and Troy began their own wonderful friendship. Sigh…

QOTD: Troy took (some of) his romantic cues and advice from his awesome grandfather. Have you taken relationship–or wooing!–advice from a family member before?

Book Info:

Publication: Published February 28th 2022 | Penelope Ward Books, Inc. |

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.

Reasons why I should not be drawn to Troy Serrano.
Number one: He’s obnoxious.
Number two: He and I were enemies over a decade ago in high school.
Number three: He’s my friend’s ex-boyfriend.
I could go on and on, really.
When my boss gives me an unwanted assignment and tells me it involves spending time with the grandson of one of our residents—the grandson turns out to be Troy. He’s now as successful as he is undeniably handsome.
Lucky me. Four hours a week of having to deal with his insufferable personality and unsolicited advice.
The only consolation is getting to stare at his annoyingly gorgeous face in between our many arguments.
Eventually, though, we slowly warm to each other and our outings become something I actually look forward to.
What’s happening to me?
Apparently, I misunderstood the assignment, because it certainly didn’t include thinking about Troy when I close my eyes at night, imagining what it would be like with him—just once. All the while hating myself for fantasizing about a guy who’s all wrong for me. A guy whose car I keyed back in the day. (Long story, but he deserved it.)
That’s all this is—a fantasy.
Well, until that one night at the bar.
The night Troy and I run into each other, and all of our pent-up frustration comes barreling out.
Still, I refuse to accept that it means anything.
There’s no way the guy I’m supposed to hate is also the one I can’t live without.