Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Hostile Takeover

AUTHOR:  Lucy Lennox

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  302 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 26, 2021

BLURB:

It was supposed to be a prank. A silly frat boy dare.

One hot moment in a hidden storage closet. One kiss. No consequences.

But if you get that close to a man with fire in his eyes, you’re gonna get burned, and I was no exception. One taste of Grey Blackwood ruined me for life.

The way Grey sees it, I was the one who did the ruining. I humiliated him. Wrecked his life. Destroyed his future.

Doesn’t matter that he’s clawed his way back and then some. Doesn’t matter that he’s already top of the Wall Street food chain. The man’s ruthless. Heartless. And he likes his revenge served cold.

Now he’s taking down the companies owned by every frat boy who did him wrong. And when he comes for my family’s company, the quiet life I’ve built for myself far away from Manhattan comes crumbling down, too.

But when Grey’s standing in our boardroom, threatening a hostile takeover and demanding I negotiate on behalf of my family, I don’t see an enemy. I see the chance I’ve been waiting for.

The chance for another night in his arms, and hopefully a whole lot more.

Let the negotiations begin.

REVIEW:

I swallowed hard and admitted in a rough voice, “I like him… the way I like seeing all those zeroes at the end of my net worth.” Like something necessary to my happiness. Like something I very much didn’t want to be without anymore. Like something I still thought would slip through my fingers anyway when I least expected it. 

Hostile Takeover is edgy and I loved it. It’s like an exciting game of chess (yes, there is such a thing): which man can outwit the other in moves to knock his opponent off-balance and keep him wanting more. Grey Blackwood and Ellison York are bitter enemies; at least Grey sees it that way as he seeks colossal revenge against the York family and others. But in order to reach their separate goals, they have to begrudgingly work together and negotiate, and that’s when the fun begins for the reader. Eventually, they have to suppress the hostility and play fake boyfriends. All the while, the lust builds and creates some delicious unresolved sexual tension. They are wicked verbal sparring partners in which sarcasm rules, and the snappy dialogue is snark-tastic. 

Fifteen years ago when they were students at Yale, something devastating happened that changed both their lives irrevocably. Ellison lived with overwhelming guilt while Grey spent the next decade and a half plotting ruthless revenge against those who wronged him, including the York family empire. When he implements his plan – which is very satisfying – it brings him face to face with Ellison once again. Despite being entrenched in the middle of a hostile takeover, both men still want each other. Ellison’s desperation for sex with Grey provides more than a few humorous moments. 

Each man has to come to terms with his presumptions about the other. Ellison is the opposite of every stereotype and assumption Grey had of him from fifteen years earlier. He must assess how that new information affects his revenge plans. For his part, Ellison thinks Grey is driven by anger and the need for power. He’s full of bitterness and resentment. This is all true, but Ellison comes to better understand the motivation behind Grey’s actions.  

Lucy Lennox uses a quote from The Art of War to head each chapter. It became a fun challenge to decipher the foreshadowing each provided for the chapter ahead. For example, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” or “Appear where you are not expected.” 

Hostile Takeover was a real pleasure to read. With its exciting, cutthroat revenge plot, it has a different feel from the author’s previous novels. As always, Ms. Lennox created complex, sympathetic characters with well-defined backstories. Watching Ellison jump through the hoops Grey creates for him is entertaining. He’s thrown well outside of his comfort zone, but he’s not without vitriol of his own that he dishes out to Grey. He comes to uncover a kind, even caring side to his opponent. They have great chemistry. The love/hate dynamic played out well, as did the enemies-to-lovers, second chance, and fake boyfriends tropes which all added depth to the story. This excellent book is a must-read for all Lucy fans.  

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

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