Surprise, surprise, I’m back to recommend Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly. Ok, so it likely isn’t a surprise seeing that I’m a bit of an SJ Tilly fan girl and gobble up all of her books almost immediately after she releases them at this point. And Mountain Boss was no different. As soon as I could I opened up this bad boy and for the first time ever with an SJ Tilly book I didn’t immediately love the main male character. Shock!
Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly
Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly is the first book in the Mountain Men series. It’s a rom com that released on March 27th, 2025. It’s a bigger one at 510 pages, but if you know SJ Tilly’s writing style you won’t be intimidated by the size. You can find it on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, and the author’s website here.
Premise
Life hasn’t been easy for Courtney, but with a new job contract she’s hopeful that this time things will work out. So she packed up her Jeep with everything she owned and drove across the country to Black Mountain Lodge. Mr. Black, however, isn’t thrilled about this new hire and tries to fire her the moment she arrives, but Courtney is desperate and convinces him to keep her on and he’ll find a way to make her quit.
Triggers
Triggers found in Mountain Boss include:
- Attempted Rape
- Violence
- Trauma – Abandonment, poverty
- Slight Stalking
My Thoughts
Sterling Black is a jerk. No seriously, I didn’t like him when I first started reading this book. He was awful in the way he practically ignored Courtney and in turn set her up for failure. But failing wasn’t something Courtney could do, she was determined to make this job work.
“Motherfucker looks like he belongs in a damn Folgers Christmas ad.” – Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly
As you continue to read, there comes massive amounts of groveling from Sterling. When he realizes just how awful he’s been, he’ll go above and beyond to make sure Courtney is well taken care of. So while the man initially angered me, he eventually won me over.
When it comes to spicy scenes, SJ Tilly is top tier when it comes to dirty talk, but this book was a slow burn, as in it took them a while to actually have sex. There were a few highly sexual scenes leading up to the big pay off however.
“I don’t want to catch you flirting with other men again, Cookie.” His breath is hot against my ear, and it takes everything in me to stay upright. “Say yes, sir.” – Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly
If you’ve read any of my other blog posts, you’ll know I’m a sucker for character growth. This book had great character growth between our two main characters. While Sterling needed to get over himself, we saw this protective side to him come out, and that doesn’t ever go away.
In fact, I would say that this book is on the darker side. Sterling does stalk Courtney a bit, in a he’s her boss so he’s watching her work from the shadows or from a distance type of way. And there are some extremely graphic scenes in which he’s being protective.
So not only do we see Sterling go from hard mountain man boss to a little softer and sweeter with Courtney, we also see Courtney learn to trust herself a bit more. Given the opportunity to live and not just survive her focus turns inward to what she wants out of her life.
He shakes his head as he looks back down at me. “You’re not supposed to play dead for black bears. You’re supposed to fight.” I widen my eyes at him. “I’m not fighting a fucking bear. Duh. Plus.” I start to push myself back up to sitting, but then he distracts me by helping me with a hand on my back. “Plus?” “Plus, I think she liked me.” – Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly
To make things better all of the main side characters that worked at Black Mountain Lodge were fantastic. There was a real sense of found family with all of them and they were welcoming of Courtney pulling her in as a sister, niece, or daughter.
Overall it had rom com vibes, but it will give you the feels and a touch of darkness. It’s a cozy up on a Saturday with a hot drink and snacks type of book.
Who Would Like Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly?
Tropes found in Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly include:
- Plus-size FMC
- Boss/Employee
- Age Gap
- Grumpy Sunshine
If you liked Runaway Love by Melanie Harlow, Runaway Groomsman by Meghan Quinn, or Just Next Door by Sarah Everly you will probably love this book.
Make sure to check out my recommendations of other SJ Tilly books too:
Have you read Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly, or are you adding it to your TBR? Let me know in the comments below. I love interacting with other readers about books I loved.