I found 10,000 Hours with a Rich Menace by Jahquel J. to be a pretty middle of the road urban romance. While I think the story is intriguing, the storytelling wasn't enjoyable for me as a reader. I skipped much of Jahquel J.'s 'Delgato' series because I wasn't a fan of the writing style. But I've read other books from the author that I really enjoyed, so when I learned that she had a new series, I decided to give that one a try and that's how I ended up reading about the Caselli clan.

The author's note makes it clear that you don't have to have read the Delgato series or The Infernos series to read and follow the Caselli clan. That is not true, in my opinion.

While reading the book, I took notes asking the following questions:
Chapter 5 "Menace" - Who is Corleon to Skyler?
Chapter 5 "Menace" - How does Landon know Stevie and Skyler?
Chapter 7 "Stevie" - Finally we learn the Corleon-Skyler/Stevie-Landon connection.
Chapter 14 "Menace" - Is Corleon dating Jeffie and Skyler?

It's frustrating reading a story and you feel like you've been plopped right in the middle of it, especially when the author said that you wouldn't need additional context from their previous books to understand the story.

In chapter 30 of the book, Stevie reveals, in response to a conversation with Zoya, Kora, and Skyler, "I was never in on these inside jokes, or knew if they were inside jokes or not." And as a reader, I'm like, "None of us are in on these jokes!" It doesn't make sense to me as a reader to write the book this way, unless there's some omniscient narrator telling the story. It's particularly bad because Stevie is desperate for friends, it's how she ended up in this awful situation with Menace, and these new women, who she wants to befriend, have some relationship that she's on the outside of - and she doesn't want to be an outsider. One of the things I expected to see in the book was the character development that took Stevie from someone who's overly trusting with little discernment to someone who's more confident in herself and can scope the scene...then she becomes attached to a family where she doesn't quite fit in...ugh.

All in all, I might be done with Jahquel J.'s books. I know she has a huge fan base and I really like her early books, but this writing style is just way too confusing for me. However, I can't deny that she has great stories that are intriguing and engaging. If you like fast-paced stories with problematic figures and a little spice, then I recommend 10,000 Hours with a Rich Menace.