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Seducing The Tycoon by M.K. Meredith – a Review

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Seducing The Tycoon by M.K. Meredith – a Review

 

Seducing the TycoonAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description:
International tycoon Drago De Luca has the world at his feet and he knows it. But back home in Italy, his beloved grandmother’s family inn is on the verge of closing down for good, thanks to hotshot American heiress, Chase Huntington, and her new hotel. Drago has to protect Nonna’s inn, even if it means getting close enough to Chase to convince her she needs to leave. But the more time he spends with Chase, the more he’s drawn to her passion, her love of his culture, and the way she looks in those Louis Vuitton heels.

Chase Huntington would give anything to enjoy her time with charming, sexy-as-hell Drago in the style capital of the world, but she has to make sure the new Huntington hotel opens successfully. How else can she prove she’s not just fashionista with a fortune–she’s an heiress savvy enough to take over the family’s biggest hotel back in California? But somewhere between boutiques and business plans, she falls head over Louboutins for Drago. But when Drago’s true motive for spending so much time with her comes to light, it could destroy everything Chase built and everything she thought she found in Italy.

 

Review:

Chase Huntington was introduced to us in MK Meredith‘s Malibu Betrayals (Malibu Sights series #2, review available here) as the privileged BFF who had her shi# together.  She remains driven and motivated, but Seducing the Tycoon allows us far more insight into this character whose single-minded focus is thrown off kilter by a tall, dark and handsome distraction.  Chase intends to indulge while simultaneously remaining aloof, keeping it casual, but the “Dragon of Europe” has other plans for her.  Bigger, all-encompassing ones, to be sure.  Let’s see if Drago’s walls are as impenetrable as he purports them to be.  He’ll need his infamous resolve if he’s to succeed. 

Instead of boning up on Italian, a language she will need for success at the grand opening of The Huntington Hotel, Chase decides to wing it.  What she encounters, unfinished lobby and electrical issues, basically nothing up to her exacting standards, leaves her in desperate need of a translator to get her message across.  I’m a Spanish tutor.  When my students ask why they couldn’t just access their Google Translate app to communicate, I tell them that it would be a disservice; they would be at a disadvantage without some knowledge of the host country’s language.  I took an immediate dislike to Chase Huntington for her frustration directed at the Italian staff who worked at her family’s hotel.  It very well could have been Chase’s silver-spoon-fed impatience that made Drago’s decision to sabotage her solo launch an easy one. 
     “…he called out a few instructions to Chase’s staff.  Finish setting up the lobby, but cooperation ends there-unless he was with her…She wouldn’t succeed with her grand opening, but he’d make sure it looked like she could with him by her side.”

Buuuuut…the gal had pluck, and that, combined with a good heart is worthy of closer inspection.  Chase had to claw through her family’s nearly insurmountable expectations to make a name for herself, and that kind of perseverance is nothing short of admirable.  Drago on the other hand is underhanded in his plotting and scheming to sabotage Chase’s grand endeavor.  He’s a mogul on his own and it’s saying something when he found his own tactics deplorable.  Chase and Drago need to shed the irritating skin.

When the truth is exposed, will Chase hold a grudge against Drago for his duplicity or acknowledge her new affinity, deep feelings, for the city, and people, she’s come to adore? 

     “And as for making a home, it isn’t the where that is important, it is the joining of a place to the beating of your heart.  When you feel the pulse of your city in your veins, that’s when you know you are home.”

Did Chase have to leave California to find her true home? 

Get ready to imagine the sounds, sights and smells, delicious aromas, of Italy in Seducing the Tycoon.  MK Meredith gives us shady exteriors before revealing layers of love.  Chase and Drago face off in and out of the hotel and their journey exceeds projections!

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher

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Malibu Secrets by MK Meredith -a Review

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Malibu Secrets by MK Meredith -a Review

 

Malibu Secrets

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
Every girl has a secret (or two)…

On the verge of losing the Malibu home she inherited from her great-aunt, Addi Dekker is completely failing to prove to her family she can make it as a writer. Not exactly how a girl proves her independence. If she doesn’t want to give up her dream and go back to the soul-sucking job she just left, Addi has to swallow her dislike of Hollywood and rent the house out to the sexy-as-hell film producer.

And maybe (shhhh!) save money by secretly living there, too.

Roque Gallagher is pouring his heart and savings into his first independent film to make the industry acknowledge him for his talent and not just his family name. Addi’s home is perfect for the shoot, but she’s far too tempting. He’s never been able to handle work and a relationship, and this is the film of a lifetime. Between a shrinking budget and his director quitting, the last thing he needs is a sexy-as-sin tease like Addi. And he has a feeling there’s something she’s hiding…

 

Review:

When wild child Addi lives up (down) to her family’s prediction, her Malibu bungalow inheritance in foreclosure, time is of the essence and Addi is desperate. When cornered, however, Addi is nothing if not resourceful. As much as it pains her, Roque, stellar Hollywood producer, is the answer to her prayers…if not her dreams. But that comes later, much later, since neither person is ready, or willing, to address the attraction. Welcome to book 2 of the Malibu Sights series, Malibu Secrets, by MK Meredith, where real Hollywood dreams have nothing to do with box office numbers.

The time had come for her to grow up and figure out a way to gather up the pieces of her latest disaster without her entire family-and their friends-finding out.

Addi isn’t like her older sister, Sam (book 1, Malibu Betrayals review available here ) , and far from dedicated, workaholic older brother-attorney, Luca. She’s impulsive and “fanciful” and happy being such. That is, until things spiraled out of control and she’s $18,000 in the hole, on the brink of losing her home.

The need was immediate upon seeing the tears in her eyes, and he’d genuinely thought she’d jump at the chance to rent to him, especially considering her predicament. She’d only have a limited time to save her home. The information on her public records had been his Hail Mary-for him and her, really. But she’d thrown him out.

Why, then, would she decline Roque’s offer? The gorgeous uber producer wants to film his movie at her home – that obviously comes with payment to vacate and since it’s Hollywood, you can imagine the bank she could make! That was the first mistake: Assume, and you make an “ass” out of you and me. I fit that into a review – always wanted to do that! 😉

What I really enjoyed through paced storytelling were the similarities in background. Though fleshed out differently, life is propelled by adult choices, the feeling of inadequacy, of hovering shadows, were one and the same for Roque and Addi. They both had drive and something to prove to their families. This obstinate pair, however, looked everywhere but within, to find that approval. And when their individual desires begin to encroach on the other’s, “From the moment they’d met, she’d been in panic mode, and he’d been in production mode”, well…Malibu Secrets are spilled, and these don’t have a chance at the cleaners!

A book filled with powerful dialogue, swoon-worthy declarations, and tense, but necessary confrontations. MK Meredith encompasses all of this wonderful to execute a faith of rising above. Addi and Roque fight with each other and for each other – now that’s success!

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher       

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Malibu Betrayals by MK Meredith – a Review

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Malibu Betrayals by MK Meredith – a Review

 

Malibu BetrayalsAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
Her chance to write a whole new ending…

Hollywood screenwriter Samantha Dekker spent the last year picking up the pieces after her husband’s suicide. Along with grief, guilt, and tabloid hell, she’s had to watch helplessly as the film industry slammed its doors in her face. Now Sam has the rarest of Hollywood opportunities – a second chance…working with the one man she swore never to see again.

Hunktastic A-lister Gage Cutler knows that Sam blamed him for his part in her husband’s death. Still, Sam is the one woman he can never forget. All he wants is a second chance of his own – to prove he’s not the player she remembers. And Malibu is the perfect backdrop to make a girl swoon.

Except they’re not alone. Someone is watching Sam and Gage’s steamy off-screen romance with the most dangerous of intentions…


Review:

I’d like to think I have discerning taste. Yes, I try to accentuate the positives in my reviews, but when I’m swooning over an author’s Acknowledgements, you know it’s made an impression! Malibu Betrayals by MK Meredith had me rooting for love, and Gage, from cover to end.

Okay. It’s coined as a second chance romance, but Sam and Gage barely know each other. It’s what came after their fateful introduction that would forever connect them. Blame and hatred aren’t low-key emotions and Sam hurled plenty of those accusations at Gage for causing the accident that killed her husband. Last thing those two need is to work together (he’s an actor, she the screenwriter). While it’s Hollywood and the worst of enemies have been known to collaborate (and put forth quality product), what didn’t register with me is how instant their bond was. We’re led to believe that their meeting was cathartic, that these two shared sensibilities. How can Gage point out all the harm in Sam’s marriage (to a colleague of his), in a matter of hours, and literally become the impetus to leave her husband? She might have already considered the decision, but it was a one.time.talk, people. It’s rather incredulous, but I’d be lying if I said Ms. Meredith didn’t make me overlook the insta-love and take a leap of faith with Gage and Sam. That’s what you want in a book, wouldn’t you agree?

Before long, Sam and Gage are exploring those possibilities and making up for lost time to full, steamy satisfaction. The attraction runs deeper, of course; the progress is tentative yet quite giving if you stop to analyze. Though they tacitly agreed to a “light and easy” fling, which invariably comes with second-guesses and worries about moving way too fast, Sam gives me whiplash. An overload of “about-face” moments were enough to drive Gage crazy (though he’s made of sterner stuff), but her past is determined to ruin her present.

Sam’s ex-husband’s family interrupts with insidious demands and general harassment. HEA seems an impossible goal. Segue into sabotage on the set and the story develops with intriguing subplots and secondary characters. As much as exterior forces threaten to upend their beginning, Sam and Gage undermine their relationship with secrets all by themselves. Repeated slaps to my forehead began to sting. Talk, people! Stop making unilateral decisions that make you miserable before you even follow through (always a bad sign). Most importantly, stop denying yourselves this rare gift of a second chance and embrace it.

“I’m trying to figure out if it can work. But I don’t see how. I need more time. Can you give me that?”

     He dropped his chin to his chest and closed his eyes.

“You don’t know what you ask, Sam.”

     “Don’t I? I know it won’t be easy, but it’s better for us in the end.”

“You think it’s better.”

“Yes, I do.”

     He studied her. “For the record, I don’t think time is the issue. But fine.”

Once you accept their relationship, Gage and Sam are two enjoyable individuals. Though jaded from the exploitative arm of Hollywood gossip, Gage and Sam are still swinging, unsatisfied with mediocrity when they have the potential to be, and have, so much more. Sam’s self-confidence took a beating, as did Gage’s reputation, but they’re driven and they gain ground with each other’s support. When they love, they love passionately and thoughtfully.

Malibu Betrayals reveals the source of the threats and its title is telling. Ms. Meredith arms Sam and Gage with courage to rise above and never give up on love.

There are hiccups in this debut novel, but Ms. Meredith is keenly focused on the struggles of love and trust and the commitment it takes to make them last forever. I would read more by this new author.

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher

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