His Heart’s Revenge by Jenny Holiday – a Review

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Description:
Twenty years ago, I was too smart and too poor to be cool. Now I’m laughing my way to the bank-the bank I’m CEO of. Nothing can touch me. Except maybe him. We met at summer camp. We made out under the stars. Then he stabbed me in the back. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But I’m gonna go with hot. Alexander Evangelista is a millionaire with all the trappings: houses all over the world and hot guys lined up whenever he’s in need of some no-strings-attached company. He’s on his way to world domination. A CEO in his own right, Cary Bell is competing for a major client with his boyhood crush. He’s never forgiven himself for betraying Alex. But with his professional reputation on the line, he’s going to have to find his inner cutthroat if he wants his new company to succeed. Alex isn’t about to let his nemesis steal a client out from under him. It’s time to break Cary’s company-and his heart.”

Review:

While M/M is not my customary genre…of course I’ll read His Heart’s Revenge, it’s Jenny Holiday, duh.  I loved her regency work.  It was only when I read, and re-read, the synopsis that I realized the lead was Alexander and not Alexan-dra.  Cary, our co-lead, will have his hands full with this one! 😉  While not my customary genre, the foundation is romance and I don’t draw lines.  Jenny Holiday wrote about love and revenge and its unexpected aftermath.  I enjoyed it very much!

15 year olds crushing at summer camp.  It’s either folly/experimental or possibly the one that got away.  When Alex and Cary reunite 20 years later in the same business circle (although one clearly gained more notoriety), they become adversaries when vying to land a wealthy tycoon new to their area.  One-upping the other suddenly escalates!  For Cary, four months after launching Bell Capital would catapult him into success.  Alex is no slouch, however, as proven by industry accolades and tabloids who salivate after his every date.  When Alex detects encroachment upon his livelihood, he goes “utterly unsentimental”, transforming into a great white shark sniffing blood in the water.

     But if that fuc#ing upstart thought he was going to steal clients out from under Dominion?  If he thought he was going to use that honeyed mouth of his to sweet
talk the twentieth-richest man in the world out from under Alexander?
Alexander rolled his wrists like he was warming up for a sparring sessions with his jujitsu master.
Bring it.

To quote a cheerleader from a wildly popular movie:  It’s already been broughten!  So war it is.  Alex may ruminate over his teenage infatuation with Cary, but the impact of winning the huge account drives his determination to the point of inflexibility.  Leaving little room for “strolling down that particular fuc#ed-up memory lane.” 

Adversaries become rivals become nemeses.  But a bond lingers; one forged of a brief, but profound past.  An innate connection that dismisses insecurity, status and disparity.  Is it enough to forgive insensitivity?  Is money more important?

Jenny Holiday makes you fall in love with her characters.  This is her gift.  His Heart’s Revenge is no different.  She surprised me with the detailed intimacy, but you’ve got to go into this prepared.  I was certainly enlightened — new to those “mechanics” she sought out for research.  But in the end, like I expected, she tells a timeless romantic story that deserves to be read. 

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher

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