Review: Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

In Bond Girl by Erin Duffy, we meet Alex Garrett, a recent college grad with her heart set on following her father's footsteps into the world of high finance. She snags a job at the prestigious brokerage firm Cromwell Pierce and embarks on what she imagines will be a fast-paced, exciting career. Imagine her disappointment when she arrives at the firm and is assigned a metal folding chair (no desk) with her assigned nickname "girlie" emblazoned across the back in wite-out. Faced with lots of testosterone, outright sexism and grueling hours, Alex tries to make her way on Wall Street and enjoy her life along the way.

Alex is smart and tough but a little naive when she arrives at her new employers - she expects luxury but is met with crass male colleagues and absolutely no respect. It is clear she is going to have to prove herself both by performance in crunching numbers and also in her ability to shrug off the comments of her co-workers and show she can hold her own amidst their practical jokes. The metal chair is only the beginning - Alex is the dedicated pizza courier, she endures comments about her body and works long into the night on spreadsheets and formulas. At one point, Alex's boss Chick even sends her to the Bronx to procure a massive wheel of cheese as punishment for a mistake made in calling an order on the desk. Despite the humiliation and reminders that she is the low girl on the totem pole, Alex develops a collegial relationship with the guys at the office and starts to see them as big brothers.

There is one male colleague, however, that she does not see as a big brother but rather a love interest - Will Patrick. Despite the fact that inter-firm relationships have been strictly prohibited by Chick, Alex takes her chances and starts to date Will. Their relationship is casual - they meet up late at night for a dinner and spend the night together but rarely see each other on the weekends. Although the top secret nature of their relationship excites Alex, the fact that her "boyfriend" is never around for the simple things like helping to pack when she is moving starts to wear on Alex. She has begun to master life at the firm - she even has her own desk - but mastering this relationship with Will is proving much more difficult.  

My Thoughts  
 This was a fun read and reminded me a lot of The Devil Wears Prada - even the covers look similar with the red high heel. Both books feature a young, female protagonist working in the field of her dreams while being tortured in a hostile work environment. They both love life in the Big City and are intent to take on everything it has to offer. The fact that they are antagonized on a daily basis makes you as the reader root for them and want to see them succeed. The books differ, however, in the fact that Alex is paid handsomely for her trials and tribulations while Andrea (main character in Devil Wears Prada) barely ekes out a living for all her hard work. That mega salary and what Alex is willing to put up with in order to make it does erode a little of my sympathy for her as a protagonist.

With that said, Alex is a smart and sharp protagonist and reading about her adventures in the city is a lot of fun. I whizzed through this book in no time and it really took me away from the ho-hum of daily life. I would never have the guts the put up with Alex does but it was fun to watch her do it! 
   
Thank you to Chelsey at William Morrow for sending a review copy of this book