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Risky Business

the perfect forbidden love workplace romance

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Risky Business

By: Annabelle Slator
Narrated by: Candida Gubbins
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Brought to you by Penguin.

She's in it to win it. He's in it to win her. Don't miss the new secret identity, forbidden workplace romance, perfect for fans of The Hating Game and Ali Hazelwood.


Jess Cole’s rules for keeping it professional:

  • Do apply to a major investment competition to get funding for your game-changing women’s therapy app
  • Do stay laser focused on winning
  • Don’t apply under your brother’s name, however fed-up you are with the male dominated industry
  • Don’t hook up with a ridiculously hot man, Oliver, only to find out he works for the top investor running the competition
  • Do try your best to resist Oliver’s charm while hiding your real identity
  • Don’t fall for Oliver anyway…


Mixing business and pleasure has always been a dangerous strategy for Jess, but this time will the risk be worth the reward?

TROPES
Workplace romance
Secret identity
Forbidden romance
One-night stand
He falls first

© Annabelle Slator 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Contemporary
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Critic reviews

Annabelle Slator is a master of the workplace romance. Packed with her signature humour, real-world issues surrounding women in tech, and characters you root for from page one, Risky Business is the perfect investment for your TBR.
Risky Business is smart, witty and charming as hell. Slator is at her best in this modern reimagining that masterfully weaves feminist commentary with delicious romance to create a story that will have you gripped from beginning to end. With messy family dynamics, and a deeply relatable story for any woman trying to make it in a male dominated world, Risky Business is a page turning story that feels more relevant than ever. Raising funding has never sounded so hot.
The delicious nostalgic vibes of a classic noughties romcom whooshed into the modern day — RISKY BUSINESS is sharp, witty, funny and sexy, with a deeply satisfying undercurrent of feminist rage. I loved every minute.
Risky Business is a fun, flirty story that will stay with you after reading. Slator has outdone herself with her second novel, marring sizzling chemistry with a gripping Shakespearean retelling and a damning exploration of what it means to be a woman in the corporate world. To package all of this into a gripping and still light feeling novel is no easy feat, but it has been done here beautifully. A true joy to read.
I adored it. Smart, funny and seriously sexy, I devoured this book with indecent haste. Ten out of ten, no notes.
The romance of my girl-boss dreams, RISKY BUSINESS delivers a fresh and sexy take on a classic tale that will have readers laughing, swooning, and cheering for Jess and Oliver. Slator is the queen of flirty banter and sizzling tension, and her ability to delve deep into emotional moments is top-tier. An absolute must-read.
Come for the fake identity hijinks and scorching chemistry, and stay for the poignant commentary on issues female founders face in the tech industry. With a heroine full of grit, whip-smart humour, and a romance that is as heartfelt as it is sexy, Risky Business had me invested from page one.
RISKY BUSINESS is the kind of romcom that will have you clawing at the pages, desperate to know what happens next. Sharp, witty and hot as hell!
Annabelle Slator has cemented herself as one of my favourite new voices in romance. Fresh and hilarious, RISKY BUSINESS is full of nail biting drama, rich character growth, and a strong message, proving that romance is anything but fluff. If you’re not reading Annabelle Slator, you’re doing it wrong. I loved it!
Fun, so brilliantly written…deserves to be huge and I will be grabbing readers on the street to demand they read it.
All stars
Most relevant
Annabelle hooks you from the very first page with her easy, engaging writing style. Jess is a fun, driven heroine you can’t help but root for. The story does a great job of highlighting how hard it can be for women to access finance and be taken seriously in a male-dominated industry — something that really resonated with me.

With plenty of twists and genuine laugh-out-loud moments, this was such an enjoyable listen. The narrator is excellent and makes the story fly by.

I loved Annabelle’s first book, The Launch Date, and this second novel definitely doesn’t disappoint. I only wish I’d been listening on a faraway beach instead of the Tube in London. 🥰

A fabulous workplace romance!

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The narrator was amazing and the story kept me on my toes from the very first chapter! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved it!

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