Hostile Takeover by Lucy Lennox

Title: Hostile Takeover

Author(s): Lucy Lennox

Genre: Romance

Publisher: Amazon/Self

Heat: 2 Flames

Rating: 2.5 Hearts

Synopsis via Goodreads:

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:

This one was kind of all over the place for me, very OTT in places. I really wanted to like it more than I did.  I love second chance stories, but this one, not as much. After finishing it, the more I thought about it, the more it irked me. I liked the MCs.  As enemies when they reconnect, it’s kinda delicious. Then the more we delve into the story and different facts come out, characters change, then I get kinda…underwhelmed.  

This review will likely have a lot of spoilers, so turn back now if you want to read and form your own opinion first.

Grey. I actually loved that he built himself up after he lost everything in the beginning.  He becomes one of the most powerful/influencial billionaires in the world. I never really got behind Ellison as the scapegoat for Grey’s fall from grace.  Did it start as a prank? Perhaps.  But even before Ellison went in that storage closet he was not thinking that way.  He’d wanted Grey and this was his chance.  He was not responsible for his father’s actions that ultimately destroyed his plans for the future.  Yet he debases him and treats him deplorably, which is pretty childish. 

Ellison.  I liked him – in the beginning.  He was mellow and confident. I liked his strong reaction to Grey in spite of everything.  I liked that he didn’t really fight Grey on his terms, but rather accepted them with quiet grace that spoke volumes of his character. Then, he does a complete 180 and practically becomes this … this nervous nellie that needs rescuing. 

Once they devised their plan to help Grey acquire a much needed property to fufill his dream real-estate development, they spend a week at Ellison’s godparents (who own said property) in order to try and get Grey in their good graces. As a couple, once you drop all the other BS, I liked them. They compliment each other well.  They actually talk and find out that things weren’t all they seemed.  Grey confesses that he doesn’t hate Ellison, never really did.

BUT.  Then there is the Great Misunderstanding which sends Grey off in a huff to some island where he is unreachable and without giving Ellison a chance to explain.  I hate this plot device. HATE IT.  Here it is so contrived and melodramatic I got a headache rolling my eyes. Grey is supposed to be this superior businessman where his dealings can hinge on his ability to read people.  He knows that Ellison’s father is an asshat, yet he takes his word at face value and disappears. 

Marcel, his PA talks some sense into him and Grey is off to do some groveling for forgiveness for being an asshat himself.

I would’ve made him suffer a little more I think, but I digress.  I think I made it sound worse than it actually is, it’s actually fairly readable but it had such delicious enemies-to-lovers potential and it just fell very flat for me so I was diappointed.  Sue me.  The epilogue pacified me a little bit so all in all, it was just okay for me.  It wasn’t one of my favorite Lucy Lennox books. 

Purchase Links | Amazon

Hostile Takeover is also part of Kindle Unlimited as are many of the titles I read.