Blog Tour: Work For Hire by Margo Karasek with an excerpt

Work For Hire
written by Margo Karasek          
published by Margo Karasek via CreateSpace

find it here: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: I did enjoy this book for the most part. It had some good moments and kept me interested until the end. 

Once a law student and a law clerk for a judge, I could relate to a lot of what Tekla was going through and experiencing at school while trying to make the grade and ends meet. Law school is extremely competitive…more so at the big, well-known schools than at the smaller schools like the one I attended. Students will hide books, materials, try to sabotage you, and do whatever it takes to come out on top because being on top means having better job prospects. I both enjoyed and disliked hearing about her brief and oral argument. It was exciting and nerve-racking. Those who went through this will understand that love-hate relationship.

I thought Tekla was very naive though. For someone who grew up in a borough of New York City, she wasn’t very street smart. A lot of the situations she found herself in seemed typical and something she should have expected to some degree. I was surprised by how she reacted to most of those situations. My favorite was at the end of the book…all I did was shake my head and say to myself, “I can’t believe she didn’t know that.” LOL I really did laugh out loud at what she thought was true. (I would say more but I don’t want to giveaway the ending.) 

The story was good. I liked that she cared so much about the kids she was hired to tutor. Tekla could have just did her job and not worried about the kids. I liked Tekla even though she was naive. I didn’t like Julian all that much. He seemed to care too much about himself and getting ahead. I know there are people like that in the world, but he just rubbed me the wrong way. Markus was a good guy…one of the few. I wanted Tekla to be with him. Anne was a typical law student…every class has at least four or five like her. 

Will there be another book about Tekla? I would be interested in reading it. I’d love to know what she thinks of her position. (This refers to the ending that I won’t give details on.)

Would I recommend it: It was a good read. If you like chick lit, you will like it. If you have any experience with law school, you may enjoy this…or it may give you horrible flashbacks.

Will I read it again: I will not.

About the book – from Goodreads: Tekla’s law school career couldn’t be any better. She has top grades. She’s on Law Review. She’s a frontrunner in a mock oral argument with a sweet prize: a judicial clerkship. One problem, though: Tekla has no more money to pay for school. She needs a part-time job. Fast. 

Luckily, her roommate has just the solution: help two uber-wealthy prep school teens, the twin son and daughter of a billionaire Wall Street short-seller and a world-renowned model turned fashion photographer, with their schoolwork, and earn $150 an hour. Plus, enjoy an additional perk on the job, in the form of a gorgeous photo assistant who happens to have his eye on Tekla. 

Easy money. 

Well, not so much. Within days, Tekla’s job begins to unravel. In a world of super-wealth and high fashion, Tekla finds herself surrounded by a peculiar cast of players: two teens whose self-destructive behavior becomes ever more erratic, a father whose ambitions for his son constantly test Tekla’s notions of what is fair and ethical and what is cheating, a mother whose emotional negligence borders on abuse, and a gorgeous man who may or may not be what he appears.

As Tekla struggles to hold onto a job that takes more time and energy than she ever anticipated, her own school life begins to suffer. She makes an enemy of a professor who seems to want nothing more than to bring her down. And he’s succeeding. Soon Tekla’s life is a paradox: without her high paying part-time job, she can’t afford law school; but with it, she’ll surely flunk out of school.

About the author: Margo Karasek decided to be a writer the instant she finished reading her first novel as a kid. She loved the possibilities and freedom in observing and writing about everyday people, whose experiences–through her words–could make a lasting impact. This passion led her to NYU, where she earned a journalism and anthropology degree, with the highest honors. But since she couldn’t figure out how writers made a decent living, Margo went on to law school–where she had a blast. Unfortunately, actually practicing law was nowhere near as fun as learning about it in school, so Margo took the ultimate plunge: she quit her cushy law firm job to become a full-time novelist. And, to help make ends meet throughout the process, Margo also began tutoring for some of the wealthiest, best known families in New York as a side-gig. The latter job gave her some powerful ideas for her first novel. Margo currently lives in Queens, New York, with her husband and their two children, and is busy working on her next book.