Day 1 of the Blog Tour for this fantastic book that I absolutely loved! I couldn’t put it down.
A completely relatable and very real story about what women go through to get ahead in business, where it’s predominantly men who run the show, and who are very comfortable for women to remain in inferior positions. Any woman who dares to achieve is seen as less than female and needs to beware of showing any type of feminine trait in the workplace. Heaven forbid she mentions that she has offspring!
Kate and Ellie’s work environment is one of toxic masculinity, but whereas Kate has ensured that she has mastered her space, dressing in power suits, ensuring that she never uses the word ‘sorry, Ellie is a girly girl. As much as she wants to succeed and climb the ladder in her career, she just can’t seem to catch a break. Being pretty works against her. Dressing in clothes that draw attention to her body is also not a positive that works in her favour, and she finds that no matter how hard she tries, everything and everyone seems to put her down and make her feel bad about herself. Worst of all, this includes Kate, someone who she looks up to and aims to emulate.
But as much as she looks all smooth, slick and professional on the outside, Kate’s private life is suffering and sooner or later, her career is going to feel the impact of that implosion. Meanwhile, Ellie is finding that some unexpected positive attention from a couple of admirers is making her feel empowered in ways that she didn’t think she’d ever feel. It’s quite amazing how things can change at the drop of a hat!
This is a really enjoyable and engaging read. Although Kate and Ellie are diversely different characters, they’re both really likeable and I couldn’t wait to see which direction their lives were going to take them in. In fact, I’d love to read a sequel to see where they go after the last page of this book!
The author exposes some nasty truths about the business world. No matter how far women think they’ve come, professionally speaking, it seems that we always have to fight harder than men to achieve success and recognition in the office, and it seems we’ll always need to make the difficult choices when it comes to work/family balance. Those choices we face – often on an everyday basis – aren’t ones that ever cross the mind of a man. And often, women even have to think twice before passing comment in the boardroom. Will this ever change? We hope it will … but if attitudes and perceptions don’t change, we’re never going to gain collective strides in the fight for female rights in the business world.
Well done to Lily Hayden for taking a tough issue and turning it into a highly readable, enjoyable 5-star story!
Thank you to RaRa Resources for inviting me on this lovely blog tour. Follow the tour to see what other bloggers say about New Rules …
Purchase Links:
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CCFZDP3/
US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CCFZDP3/
Author Bio:
Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick.
Modern day women want modern day heroines and Lily’s characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers and equal partnerships, but like all of us, they face many challenges and it isn’t always easy.
A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books.
Her debut novel Butterflies, a heartwarming alternative to the traditional boy-meets-girl story, was released in 2018, reaching readers all over the world and she is the author of five books, including a Young Adult Dystopian novel Project Terra under the alias SJ Woods (because who doesn’t love a bit of action and defeating bad guys every now and again).
Follow Lily on social media for the latest releases, promotions and occasional photos of her dogs.
Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/haydenwoodscreative/
Jan's Book Buzz 
Leave a comment