Jewell Kincaid was certain she’d blown her interview, but she couldn’t tolerate the obnoxious behavior of a certain Fund Manager who had caught her attention.  B. P. Roth might be as attractive as they come, but only physically.  He yelled at his employees and didn’t appear to have any manners.  The fact that she could tell he was deaf did not excuse his behavior.  Imagine her surprise when she finds out she was hired, not for the administrative assistant position she was overqualified for, yet had interviewed for, but for an executive support position for which she was very qualified.  She was to work for Benjamin Prescott Roth.

Not many people stood up to Benjamin.  His abrasiveness kept most people away.  His performance at work was great, which is probably the reason he was allowed him to get away with more than he should.  But not with Jewell.  She stood up to him, even knowing that she would be jeopardizing her interview.  He also appreciated her competence, her deft knowledge of sign language and as he got to know her better, he simply appreciated her for herself.  Benjamin typically didn’t want a workplace relationship, but for Jewell he was willing to try one.

As Jewell and Benjamin start to come together, terrible secrets from Benjamin’s past threaten to tear them apart.  When tragedy strikes, it is only Jewell that can keep him going.  However, Benjamin finds it difficult to let anyone in and it will be up to Jewell to fight for them.

Precious Things covers a gamut of emotions.  There is the love of family, but also the bitterness and pain family can cause.  Benjamin has spent his whole life pushing people away and it takes every ounce of perseverance Jewell has to break Benjamin free of his past.  Precious Things is an emotional roller coaster that I enjoyed.  However, I did find the story a bit wordy, perhaps the first half of the story should itself have been cut in half.  It took too long to get to the main conflict.  Still, I liked the people, I loved the passion between the characters and I will look for more books by this author. 

Note – don’t let the cover of this book influence your desire to read it.  Although I love the cover, it didn’t match the storyline of the book.