Review: August Recess by Alexandra Klein

August Recess by Alexandra Klein

Blurb from Goodreads:

She walked in with a blueprint. He wasn’t part of the plan.

After two decades with the same man, Natalie Weir never saw the divorce papers coming. Now her once-promising interior design career is as distant a memory as her marriage and the professional ambitions she shelved to start a family. Left questioning everything she thought she knew, Natalie flounders to rediscover the woman she was meant to be.

When her fearless best friend Dana lands her a career-reviving opportunity, Natalie is launched inside the private life of Congressman Oliver Thames — Washington’s most eligible bachelor and media darling. The transform his stunning Capitol Hill townhouse into a home. The their creeping chemistry amidst paint swatches and stump speeches.

As Natalie breathes new life into Oliver’s space, she begins to transform personally in ways she couldn’t have foreseen. But when their building desire for each other clashes against stark political realities during the tumultuous August recess, Oliver and Natalie confront a gutting give up on each other or destroy two divergent lives they’ve fought so hard for.

A sophisticated yet playful romance about second chances, seizing your power, and discovering that some of the most beautiful renovations aren’t the ones you can see.

My Review:

You know I absolutely love political romance and this was delightful.  I even adored the ending -- it felt right even if sometimes I wanted more!  This is definitely slow burn but felt real.  I loved the characters.  Give this a try!

August Recess comes out next week on January 12, 2026, and you can purchase HERE!  

In spite of the odd conversational zigzags, the tantalizing process of unwrapping Oliver Thames had been on my mind. 

He was sophisticated and educated—no surprise given that he was a congressman who'd gone to Harvard Law. He was handsome, too. It could've made him a total dick. Or one of those Frozen Chosen who occupy at least sixty-eight percent of the corner offices in the Federal government. But the man was also delightfully human-boyish, sometimes, but also fatherly, depending on the circumstance, and it fired me up and calmed me down at the same time. Twice now I had interacted with him, but the experiences were different. It felt like opening the doors to an Advent calendar, a new surprise each day. The Unboxing of Oliver Thames, I thought as I struck the bronze knocker to the front door to claim today's prize.