Indiana “Ana” Aaron is a talented coder and IT specialist, but she doesn’t always fit in at work. When she speaks up one too many times for her boss’s ego, she’s transferred to a remote team—and it’s clear this is her last chance to blend in.
Ana sees working from home as a chance at redemption; she can keep her head down and her camera off. But when her new boss praises her assertiveness and thanks Mr. Aaron, she sees no reason to correct him.
But the longer Ana waits to set things straight, the more complicated things get. Soon the legend of “Indiana” begins to take on a life of its own, and Ana is in over her head. Fortunately, she has friends at work, including Shane, a handsome tech guy who’s smart enough to put the puzzle together and to help her triumph over workplace preconceptions and other nonsense.
3.5 Stars
Published on: 30th January 2024
Women’s Fiction
Female in a Male-Dominated Tech Career
Hidden Identity
Indiana Aaron is a female coder. The story begins with her being passed over for a promotion to a male colleague. She lets her boss know what she thinks of this and gets transferred to a remote team where her new boss assumes she’s male because of her name. Indiana lets him think she’s a male because he seems to have more respect for her(him) and offers him more work. Things escalate due to all the lies that are told so that he (the boss) never sees Indiana’s face.
I think the cover is slightly misleading. It looks like a cute romcom (which I thought I was requesting), but it’s barely a romance. There is a subplot romance, but it’s just sprinkled in a little bit. It is, however, being marketed as Women’s fiction
This book is about gender and other forms of workplace discrimination. It takes a real and serious matter and makes it quirky and funny at times. I liked the depiction of misogyny in the workplace in this book. I think it was pretty well done. Not only was her boss a misogynist, but he was also a horrible boss and sucked at his job. The rest of her co-workers were nice and supportive though. The way they stood up for and with her was great to see.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a little off. I didn’t hate it because it is sweet that everyone lets Ana be herself with no apologies, but her main gal friend was so annoying & the random long-winded conversations about nothing didn’t elevate the story. I didn’t feel like any of the characters had much depth to them. The romantic subplot was meh; I didn’t feel any chemistry, and the father and his flame just felt like we were introducing strong female characters just for the point of it. I think it could have been established better.
Overall, this was an ok book for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Anastasia Ryan, and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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