BIG BEN (See No Evil Trilogy #1) by Nana Malone-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 21, 2020

It began with betrayal.
And ended in murder.

She was never supposed to cross my path.
She was never supposed to know about the Currency of Secrets or the Oaths of Blood.

But like a thief in the night, she stole my soul even if she wasn’t mine to possess.

As a member of the Elite, I live by simple tenets. A gentleman above all. Private matters stay private. Secrets whispered are never revealed. Enemies and friends are of the same coin. And power is king.

My so-called brothers killed my friend. I intend to make them pay. And before it’s over, I’ll bend all the rules of morality, decency and legality. I will borrow and steal to set the scales right. But begging–begging, you can forget about.

My name is Ben Covington and I know my sins.

••••••

REVIEW: BIG BEN is the first instalment in Nana Malone’s contemporary, adult SEE NO EVIL erotic, romantic suspense trilogy focusing on billionaire businessman Ben Covington, and operations director Olivia Ashong.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Ben and Olivia) BIG BEN follows several paths including the building relationship between billionaire businessman Ben Covington, and operations director Olivia Ashong.

Ben Covington is a member of the Elite, closely connected to the Uber rich and powerful of Eton Academy in London England, but the murder of his best friend Toby ten years earlier, finds Ben on the hunt for the men responsible but Ben never expected to find himself trapped in a closet with a woman trying to hide from someone she knows. Enter Olivia Ashong, the woman who would be pulled into a world of secret societies when Ben hid something of value with our leading heroine. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Olivia and Ben,and the fall-out as more than one person has targeted our couple in a game of cat and mouse.

Ben Covington, along with friends East Hale and Bridge Edgerton have been looking for proof to take down the men currently controlling the group known as the Elite but Ben goes to desperate measures to ensure the hierarchy no longer remains in the hands of the few but in doing so disrupts a nest of would-be vipers.

Olivia Ashong’s current relationship is spiralling out of control but when Ben Covington offers her the position of operations director at his company, London Lords, Olivia had no idea the direction her life was about to lead. Several attempts on her life; a possible stalker with designs on our heroine; and a soon to be ex-boyfriend who continues to guilt Olivia into standing by his side, force Olivia to seek refuge with the man she is currently calling boss.

The relationship between Olivia and Ben begins as a business arrangement when Olivia refuses to give Ben back an item she currently has in her possession. Desperate to keep Olivia close, Ben offers Olivia the position of operations director, and in doing so, keeps the woman that calls to his heart, close and protected from those trying to do harm. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate.

We are introduced to Ben’s friends and fellow Elite Eton brothers: East Hale and Bridge Edgerton: Olivia’s boyfriend Dexter, and his smarmy boss Fenton Mills; Olivia’s friend Telly, as well as Elite members Bram Van Linsted and his father Marcus.

BIG BEN is a story of secrets and lies; the powerful elite, the well-to-do and politically connected; murder, chaos, and control. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the romance is a slow seduction with plenty of sexual tension; the characters are colorful and dynamic. BIG BEN ends on a cliff anger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy