Julie Cannon

I really disliked this book and wouldn't have finished it if I didn't need to read a book that started with the letter P. There were several reasons why I didn't like it so I'll share just a couple of them here.

I found the Tate character to be completely unlikable and sleazy in her business practices. She's angry, mean, untrustworthy, and a bully. I've worked with execs in one of the largest companies in the country for nearly a decade and I've never seen any executive, at any level, act show more like Tate. Well, that's not true, there was one and he was tossed out on his ass specifically for his behavior.

One of the other big things that didn't sit right with me was sending these two people who want to buy a failing company around the world to tour parts of the failing company with the failing company's CEO. Two of the companies involved were going broke. Who paid for that? But more importantly, why?

And finally, Tate's speech at the end to Victoria about how she's a totally different person and how Victoria changed her just didn't feel possible or believable. I honestly thought that when Victoria rejected her bizarre proposal to give up her job, come and sit on "the throne" with Tate, and they can rule the world, that would have been the perfect ending because everything that Victoria said in her rejection was true. It was a terrible idea and went against everything that Victoria claimed to be.

I went back and forth for quite awhile on whether to give 1 or 2 stars but, after looking at Goodreads labeling for them, I had to go with 1 because I "didn't like it." show less

Okay, yep, so that start to the novel is definitely the single most In Media Res I've ever entered a story. Whew.

After that it goes back to being a fairly typical lesbian romance, and a very enjoyable one on the whole as well.

It's about Adrienne and Sloan. They knew each other in college and were together as well, although Cannon never really delineates whether they were girlfriends or simply lovers or something else. But, then they went different ways after graduation (and not in a great show more way it seems).

Both Sloan and Adrienne are lawyers representing companies and so they find themselves across the table from one another negotiating a deal while trying to negotiate through their own complicated feelings and their twisty, turney sort of relationship.

Oh, and to complicate stuff even more, Adrienne isn't just by herself, she is also the Mom of Callie, who was definitely my favorite character in the book.

Although they were all written very well. I also wasn't sure at the beginning whether I liked the Elliot/Lauren sorta co-plot, but, it did grow on me by the end.

Overall I really liked the book, it was a fun, enjoyable, and relaxing read. Another cool Julie Cannon tome.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. show less

This novel is about Barrett and Kelly. Barrett is one of the owners of Global Digital, a tech company. Kelly is a nurse volunteering in a rural clinic. They also both happen to be kidnapped by an organization called FARC in Columbia. We never really learn the nitty gritty details of how, why, etc., Kelly was kidnapped (and honestly in the context of this story it didn't really matter), but Barrett is in Columbia to complete a deal when she's kidnapped for ransom.

Once they're both there the show more story gets quite intense. But, then when one of them gets out and then the other gets rescued, somehow the novel gets even more intense.

I do wish that we had gotten a bit more with either of the women's families, but, on the other hand, focusing it on just the two women was probably one of the main reasons there was such an intensity to the novel.

The back and forth (relationship wise, not the individual dialogue, although that was great too) between Barrett and Kelly seemed more organic than your typical Lesbian Romance novel. And I Have to say as a big thriller reader, the first part of the novel was very much thrillerish and had me on the edge of my seat at times.

The thing is that Cannon is just a damn great writer. There are so many books that I simply read, that's not saying the book is bad or badly written, but all I do is read it. And then there are books that I feel. This book is in the latter category.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. show less

This book had three novellas in it. And as the title implies they all somehow involve two characters where one of them is a boss, and the other an employee.

It started with one called Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey. I did wish that it was a little longer, but, it also worked in the shorter format. Elisa and Parker went to Law School together and had a fateful meeting at a party during that time. Now, years later their careers are definitely different. And Parker comes on as Lead Counsel on one show more of Elise's cases. It was a fun story, and I liked especially that I wasn't sure how it would end.

For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon was the second story. It consisted of three smaller parts, two of which were in first person (which I don't think I've read in a while now that I think about it). One from Riley's point of view, one of Jess' point of view, and then the third part in third person. Riley is the CFO of a company and a bit controlled. While Jess is a dancer/stripper who dances at a friend of Riley's birthday party. Riley then hires Jess to dance for her (no funny business) a couple of times, and then there is the fateful (and awkward) meeting when Riley meets another side of Jess she didn't know about. It was an intense novella. And all of that packed into a small package. Yikes.

Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich was my least favorite of the novellas, but, that was probably because it took me a little longer to get into it. Luca and Stephanie are both Forensic Accountants and when Luca is assigned to Steph as her assistant to learn from Steph, well, that doesn't go well at all since Steph likes to work alone. They have a lot of misunderstandings, but slowly start understanding each other and falling in love.

I loved the first two stories, and liked the third one. And for all of them I was very impressed by just how much was fit into the novella format.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books. show less