If you’re like me and you read a lot of thrillers or dark or heavier books, sometimes you just need a light, fluffy read to cleanse the palette. That was exactly what this book was for me.

We’ve all had a job that we hated, but we keep working there because we have to pay the bills while we look for something better. When I first moved to Texas, I worked at this direct mail marketing place. We basically printed and then mailed marketing material for companies – many of which were nationwide. It was tedious and ridiculous, but the people who worked there took themselves seriously. My supervisor was cool, but our boss was this tiny little woman and many people said she was a total tyrant. They warned me from day one that someday she would do something to me to prove that she was the boss. It would be ridiculous and totally stupid, but it would sting so to watch out.

At first I was totally skittish around her, but after a few weeks I forgot about it. She was super nice to me whenever I was around her, but I was pretty quiet and mostly kept to myself.

A few months into the job, I was hating life. The hours were long; I was on my feet a lot, and I was also on call 24/7, so if something went wrong with a file, they would call me at home. I don’t know what the hell they thought I was going to do about it because honestly, for the full 6 months that I worked there I did not know WTF I was doing – to this day I still don’t really know what I did there. Anyway, we’re coming up on the holidays and I had requested a week off to fly home to Idaho to see my parents. My supervisor and our supposedly tyrannical boss approved it – life is good. About a month later, right after Thanksgiving, I got an interview at a hospital thanks to a friend of a guy I was dating at the time. It was a huge Cancer Center in Houston and I was really excited about the opportunity. I called in sick and went to the interview and the next day I went to work and the little tyrant came to my desk and started chewing me out for calling in sick so close to when I was going to be on vacation. Keep in mind that we were still two-three weeks away from my Christmas time off. I’m sitting there looking at her like, “Bizh, what’s your problem?”

She said something to the effect of, “I highly doubt that you were sick – you seem fine. Calling in yesterday really put a strain on all of us here, and because of that, I have no choice but to revoke your vacation. You now have to work over Christmas.” I said, “Um, sorry, but I’ve already spent a butt ton of money on a non-refundable ticket to fly home.” She said, “That’s not my problem,” and then she stood there and glared at me. I stared right back, and she started flaring her nostrils and doing that soap opera stare, where she lifted her chin a little like she really meant business. I started laughing in her face because she looked so ridiculous. Then she said, “I am serious. If you don’t come in, you’ll be fired, and we both know you don’t want that.” I’m thinking, “Oh no, honey buns. I do want that.”

A few days later, I found out that I got the job at the hospital, and I quit.

All that to say that I totally understood the woes of Vanessa, except her boss – Xavier – is even more ridiculous. He was part Michael Scott from The Office, and part Gabe Parrish from Shrill.

When Xavier fires her for having a resting bitch face – yes, you heard me – she is beyond confused. She refuses to take the separation package and instead files for unemployment, but he fights back. With the help of a couple of work friends – one who was also fired and another who still works there but is hanging by a string – they take revenge. First, they install a monitor in his conference room and each of them has a receiver at home so they can listen in on the conversations. When Vanessa’s feisty mother and her group of friends known as the “Bridge Brigade” get involved, hilarity ensue as they try to bring down Xavier and expose Directis’ (the telemarketing company) shady business practices and enact their revenge on Xavier. They kidnap his hairless cat, and glitter bomb the conference room via the AC unit.

Along the way Vanessa meets the sexy, tattooed Carter Beckett – a fellow cat lover and the man handling her unemployment claim – and falls for him. The book is filled with many laugh out loud moments and I immediately wanted to be friends with Vanessa and her co-conspirators Trisha and Jane. The conversation is lively, the plot moves quickly and all the characters are fully developed. This is one that I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun, light read.