Best part of being a reviewer is having the opportunity to meet new authors and Sydney Landon is certainly one to watch. Her dialog is catchy and as real as her characters. Her characters are people you can imagine as a friend and they will capture your heart.

Working at Danvers International was a pretty good job but Claire's financial situation made it imperative to moonlight. She was having a difficult time keeping ahead of medical expenses for her mother. Her bond with coworker Suzy added quite a bit of spice to a rather ordinary professional job and life. When compared with all the neutral suits Suzy was a bright light with her overly sexy outfits. Claire and Suzy couldn't be more different and yet they shared an amazingly close friendship. Claire saw beneath Suzy's outlandish front to a caring woman who was definitely best friend material. And Suzy was there to support Claire as well as give her a well needed push towards amping up a decidedly sexless life.

Hiding behind those drabs suits was a sparkling sexy woman but no one was ever going to notice certainly not Claire's hunk of a boss Jason Danvers who had the attention of every warm blooded woman at the office for sure. To Jason Claire was basically invisible. As Jason's assistant she was basically his right hand woman so to speak -- theirs was strictly a business relationship Monday to Friday. So Claire was rather surprised when he told her that she was going to have to work on the weekend accompanying Jason out of town. He wouldn't take no for an answer. Their work was essential for the company's proposed merger with a large communications company.

However this posed a problem for Claire and her moonlighting. She desperately needed that extra money and even more so worried over the ramifications of cancelling at last minute. No one would have guessed what type of work Claire was doing weekends. It was definitely out of her wheelhouse. Her work at Partiez Plus paid her well and was pretty steady. Her responsibilities as a party assistant included waitressing and the unexpected role of the cake girl who dresses in a rather skimpy sexy costume to surprise the man of honor as she pops out.

Well, Jason is going to get the surprise of his life working this weekend with his very efficient assistant. There are a lot of layers to Claire and it would appear that Jason is starting to realize how much he has missed or overlooked. The more he learns about this woman the more he begins to find himself attracted to her -- certainly not something he usually condones in the company but nonetheless he is pretty helpless at avoiding getting more and more involved in Claire's life and troubles. Claire has always been a very independent woman never wanting to depend on any man. This is surely going to be a battle of wits and stubbornness. Hopefully they will both recognize what a rosy future they could have together.

WEEKENDS REQUIRED is a wonderful introduction into a series revolving around the Danvers Corporation and its many characters. Sydney Landon's foray into contemporary romance has just the right amount of angst, sass, sexiness, humor and of course romance. I fell in love with the supporting cast and was happy to know that they will be showcased in future books. It is easy to see that Landon will be winning some devoted fans with her series.