Isabella

Implausible, cliched and stereotypical, yet lots of fun. The leads have incredible chemistry. Lots of delicious sexual tension right from the opening scene, even though the scene itself (and some others as well) stretched believability and raised some ethical questions. Best to check your logic at the door and just enjoy the sparks.

Reagan is being groomed by her father to take over as CEO of his firm. But someone seems to be dead-set against her, to the point of sending her death threats. Daddy goes and hires a bodyguard for Reagan, which of course, Reagan totally refuses and had to be arm-twisted (literally!) into going along. At first, there is no love lost between Reagan and Chad, the no-nonsense bodyguard. Reagan is used to getting her way, and Chad isn't used to not getting her way. Sparks fly thick and fast. But so does the sexual tension. Just when the book hurtles to its predictable conclusion (as per the lesfic formula :)), the author springs a twist that is so unexpected, it defies logic.

And the book ends. If the author had expounded more on it afterwards, instead of ending the book abruptly, perhaps this book wouldn't have gotten the almost universally bad reviews everywhere.

My initial reaction was but having read the sequel back-to-back with this, I can say in hindsight, it works.

There are a number of typos and wrong word usages that slipped through. Some POV changes are a bit confusing. And the ending I had to re-read several times, just to be sure I didn't misinterpret the book.

But overall, it intrigued and entertained me enough to continue on to the sequel [b:Surviving Reagan|22515843|Surviving Reagan|Isabella|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403177398s/22515843.jpg|41995938]

… (plus d'informations)

This is the sequel to [b:Executive Disclosure|17155680|Executive Disclosure|Isabella|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359799841s/17155680.jpg|42008916]. Be sure to read that first before diving into this. Even though there are mentions via flashbacks, the nuances and dynamics of their 'interesting' relationship, which are thoroughly explored in the first book, is not as much in evidence here. And therein lies the rub. This book is better than the first in almost every way--more logical, more realistic, a real mystery, more thrilling plot, well-rounded characters, yet it is missing some of the sexual tension--the sparks, the constantly duelling egos and one-upmanship--that made the first book so much fun to read. Chad and Reagan are not on equal footing in this book, despite the title.

Fortunately, the mystery/intrigue part of the plot kept us turning pages. I suspect though, there may be a third book. And one of the supporting characters may even get one of her own. :)

You may also want to check out the author's other intrigue series [b:American Yakuza|13921534|American Yakuza|Isabella|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359799953s/13921534.jpg|41995917], still one of my all-time faves.… (plus d'informations)