Review and Spotlight: DEVOTED by Lexi Blake

A woman’s work
Amy Slaten has devoted her life to Slaten Industries. After ousting her corrupt father and taking over the CEO role, she thought she could relax and enjoy taking her company to the next level. But an old business rivalry rears its ugly head. The only thing that can possibly take her mind off business is the training class at Sanctum…and her training partner, the gorgeous and funny Flynn Adler. If she can just manage to best her mysterious business rival, life might be perfect.
A man’s commitment
Flynn Adler never thought he would fall for the enemy. Business is war, or so his father always claimed. He was raised to be ruthless when it came to the family company, and now he’s raising his brother to one day work with him. The first order of business? The hostile takeover of Slaten Industries. It’s a stressful job so when his brother offers him a spot in Sanctum’s training program, Flynn jumps at the chance.
A lifetime of devotion….
When Flynn realizes the woman he’s falling for is none other than the CEO of the firm he needs to take down, he has to make a choice. Does he take care of the woman he’s falling in love with or the business he’s worked a lifetime to build? And when Amy finally understands the man she’s come to trust is none other than the enemy, will she walk away from him or fight for the love she’s come to depend on?

AMAZON

REVIEW

This was a very fun read! If you were wondering what he MT team were doing, what happened to Bridget’s sister or what happened to Mitch’s half-brother you’ll find out in this novella.

The book starts with Amy talking to her BFF and ex-husband Frankie about her asshole father and about her not getting any *wink, wink*. Frankie asks her if she’s sure she wants to go through with joining Sanctum. In another part of town Mitch tells his brother Flynn that the trainee he got paired with it’s Amy(also the CEO of Slaten Industries and a thorn in Flynn’s company’s ass). Flynn promises he’ll talk with the Sanctum people about the conflict of interests there; unfortunately he changes his mind after he meets Amy. Also, Amy has no idea who Flynn is.

As everyone can imagine they don’t fucking talk about who they really are. I’m so getting fed up of this “Big Miscommunication”-trope. If it were only the enemies to lover one everything would have been great… but it wasn’t. Flynn acted like a complete asshole about his identity and I really wanted to punch him in the face maybe then he would have realized what a completely idiotic idea that was.

A few other things worked against my enjoyment of the story. Ms Blake should have streamlined the novella more, for example Amy tells us several times about her fucked up family or when she thinks about her relationship with ex-husband and how she loved him and he didn’t love her in that way; I got really bored with it.

All in all it was a good novella, but not as good as what Ms Blake can write.

Rating: 

Excerpt

Amy Slaten hung up the phone and sighed.

“Not again.”

She kind of wished her ex-husband wasn’t here to witness her complete and utter humiliation. Unfortunately, her ex-husband also happened to be her best friend and had been her business partner for a very long time. Their firms had been kept separate by an ironclad prenup and they’d handed back each other’s stock after their amicable divorce, but still she turned to him in times of trouble.

And the times they were a troubled now.

“Yes, we lost the Kleinman account. They’re concerned about the lawsuit and how my father could keep us wrapped up in court for a long time. Naturally they went to Glendale.” Glendale Incorporated was the bane of her existence and had been for a long time. She’d heard the company was under new management since John Adler had died. John and her father had been business rivals, and not the friendly kind. They’d gone for each other’s throats and it looked like the son John, Jr. was planning on keeping up the family traditions. He came after every contract Slaten Industries had, competed for every one they went after. Even the ones they shouldn’t. Glendale was so much bigger than Slaten. They shouldn’t play in the same sandbox, but the Adlers seemed determined to wipe out Slaten no matter what the cost to their own company.

Frankie sat back, his perfectly tailored clothes not wrinkling at all. He was wearing a Dolce & Gabbana three-piece suit with a snowy white dress shirt and a peacock blue tie that nearly matched his eyes. He was the most stunning man she’d ever met.

Unfortunately, he was also gay. Their marriage, while loving and friendly, had not been intimate in a physical sense.

“Is there anything I can do?” Frankie asked. “Beyond assassinating your father? Because I could arrange that. I know some interesting people.”

She had to chuckle at that. “Don’t tell me you’re bringing in the gay mafia.”

His lips curled up in a perfectly gorgeous smile. “Don’t underestimate the gay mafia, darling. They will take care of business and with amazing style.” He sobered. “You know I would do anything for you, right?”

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn't until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.

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