Had to Make You Mine

Southern Charms, Book 1

By: Kat Long

Narrated by: Dex McCauley, Margot Hale

She lost her music.

Then she lost everything else.

Without her band and her best friend, Annaleigh Mackey decides it's time to focus on her career. Then her surly new boss crashes into her life, and she finds herself distracted in ways she can't resist. Maxwell Jackson is a commanding presence in the boardroom, but that's nothing compared to the way he's dominating her thoughts.

He's starting over.

New city, new job, and no distractions. Then his new assistant walks through the door, a beautiful diversion from his plans. Maxwell Jackson doesn't want to spend his time unraveling Annaleigh's secrets, and he certainly shouldn't want her. Not in the boardroom, on his desk, or against his office door. But he can't stay away, and she's fast becoming his obsession.

As their passion consumes them, old secrets surface that could ruin everything. Will Annaleigh and Maxwell be strong enough to make it through? Or is this just another office fling, destined to fail?

©2025 Kat Long (P)2025 Kat Long, Pink Flamingo Productions

Suprises!

Max and Annaleigh bring office romance with grumpy/sunshine dynamic to life. While Max has been through some recent relationship trauma that keeps him from trusting himself and Annaleigh which leads to angst. Annaleigh is dealing with a lot more than an attraction to her new boss who goes from hot/cold in a blink of an eye. I love Annaleigh's friends and their nicknames for Max! The narrators did a great job bringing the story to life.

Had to Make You Mine

Had to Make You Mine is the first book in the Southern Charms series. This book is about Maxwell (Max) and Annaleigh and is told from both of their points of view.

Annaleigh is a musician but when something happens she takes a break and goes a different route. When she is at the beach with friends they run into a hot stranger, but he is not the nicest during their interaction.

Imagine Annaleigh's surprise when she finds out she is the new assistant to the guy at the beach Maxwell. As they are working together, they both realize there is more to each other than the originally realized. They both have things in their past and help each other through it.

I loved seeing these two characters help each other grow and help each other. Seeing who they were, and who they have become together. Will they get their happy ending? Or will something from their past tear them apart? Can Annaleigh find her love for music again? I'm excited to continue on in this series?

Great Story, Characters, & Narration🎧

This is a great start to a new series, a story with intriguing characters and storylines that hooks you in right from the start. Annaleigh Mackey, a former rocker, is now working as a personal assistant and is great at her job. Maxwell Jackson is in for a fresh start, starting a new job in a new city, leaving Chicago and his cheating ex behind. When he walks into his new job and meets his new assistant, he finds the girl he ran into the other day, Blue, the girl he dissed. A feisty, confident in what she does, is first taken aback seeing who her new boss is, but she rolls with it. There is an undeniable chemistry between these two, and it is a matter of how long they can deny it or each other. It was great watching these two interact and get to know each other, and their story is so much more than your usual workplace romance. I thought they were perfect together and for each other, and it was great to see Anna get her groove back. It is a multi-layered story with plenty of drama, angst, heartfelt emotions, and a steamy, slow-burn, but so worth the wait romance. Kat Long’s writing, plotting, and world-building are fantastic, as are the complexity of the characters, their development and growth too. Thank you for this terrific story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 Dex McCauley and Margot Hale did a great job bringing the characters to life, humanizing them with their voices and personalities. Both embodied their characters completely, grasping every aspect of their personalities and demeanors. They set the perfect tone for the story, and their expressive performance conveyed all the characters’ emotions, making you feel each one. They are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to.