Weekends Required is a contemporary romance novel by Sydney Landon and the first book in her Danvers series.
Claire Walters has worked for Jason Danvers as his assistant for three years, but he’s never really appreciated her as a woman until the day she jumps out of a cake at his friend’s bachelor party. Claire has fallen on hard times and secretly works a second job for a party-planning company to help support her ailing mother. When her handsome boss unexpectedly ends up with a front-row seat to the action, she’s mortified and Jason suddenly realizes there’s a lot more to his quiet assistant than he ever noticed before.
With Danvers International in the middle of an important merger, Jason asks Claire to accompany him on weekend business trips, and suddenly all of Claire’s fantasies about her gorgeous boss seem to be coming true. Her outspoken best friend thinks a little “executive attention” will solve all her problems, but Claire sees more in Jason than just a sexy billionaire boss. The more time they spend together, the more Jason realizes the beautiful woman from the bachelor party and his dependable assistant are one and the same and that mixing business with pleasure might be worth the risk.
- Title: Weekends Required
- Raina Rating: 7.5 out of 10
- Genre: Romance
- Author: Sydney Landon
- Series: Book 1 out of 4
This book definitely leans into a lot of classic romance tropes: the billionaire boss, the unnoticed assistant, forced proximity, and hidden attraction. Jason starts out as the typical emotionally distant alpha male, while Claire is overworked, insecure, and carrying the emotional weight of caring for her sick mother. What made the story work for me was that Claire actually felt relatable. She’s awkward, stressed, accident-prone, and trying to survive financially while holding her life together. Her family struggles, especially involving her mother’s health and memory loss, added more emotional depth than I expected from a light office romance.
The chemistry between Claire and Jason was sweet and believable, and I liked how their relationship developed gradually once they were outside the office environment. Jason’s softer side starts coming through during their weekend trip, and the romance becomes more emotional than purely physical. Their banter and awkward moments together gave the story a lot of charm.
That said, I did have one major issue with the book. Claire’s second job involves jumping out of cakes at bachelor parties, and the author spends a lot of time emphasizing that she’s “not a stripper.” It felt unnecessarily judgmental at times, almost like the story was trying too hard to separate Claire from women who actually are strippers, as though that somehow made her more respectable or classy. That aspect really rubbed me the wrong way and honestly could have been handled much better.
Aside from that, though, the story was romantic, easy to read, and entertaining. The supporting characters were fun, especially Suzy, and the emotional moments balanced well with the lighter humor and romance. It’s not the most groundbreaking romance novel out there, and some of the tropes and character dynamics feel a little dated, but overall I enjoyed it enough that I definitely plan on continuing with book two in the series.
Looking for more romance reviews? Check out Aireona’s Romance Reviews.
