Caffeinated Reviewer

A steamy romance about two troubled souls who meet when he is trying to take over the company she works for. Narrated by Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke, Hazelwood offered an enjoyable listen, but I confess I was more interested in the takeover.

A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.

Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who's off-limits to him.

Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.

I found Hazelwood’s STEM romances enjoyable and appreciated the corporate takeover element in the plot. The romance in this book is hotter than her previous ones, and I’m all for it. The problem was that there was very little time to focus on building relationships. While I enjoyed the confessions, I don’t think I’ll remember their story in three months.

The takeover stems from revenge, and the storyline was intriguing. We are left in the dark in the beginning and slowly learn the whys. I confess I was concerned for Rue and her current project.

I loved the banter and secondary characters who added to the story. Both Rue and Eli’s backstories were interesting and enough that I felt like I knew where they were coming from. The romance while sizzling lacked a genuineness I felt previously from this author.

Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke narrated in duet. They did well voicing the characters. I preferred the parts read by Dalton and liked both her male and female voices.

While not my favorite Hazelwood novel, I enjoyed the banter, takeover story, and characters.

Amazon | Audible

About Ali Hazelwood

Ali Hazelwood is a multi-published author—alas, of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, crocheting, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2024 Audiobook Challenge

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

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