TESTING THE BOSS (Billionaires in the City #6 ) by Mallory Crowe-Review and Book Tour
TESTING THE BOSS
Billionaires in the City #6
by Mallory Crowe
Release Date: November 19, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romantic suspense
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 19, 2015
Billionaire Luke Devereaux gets what he wants and what he wants right now is to bring down the shady organization threatening his family. Teaming up with the FBI is his only option–even if that option comes in the sultry Evelyn Price, the ice-princess who’s all business.
Refusing to be distracted by the sexy, rich playboy, Evelyn forces herself to stay focused on the case, gearing up for the criminal takedown of her entire career. As the enemy closes in with Evelyn as its next target, it’s up to Luke to keep them out of danger. The more they work to protect each other, and fight for control, the harder it is to resist their undeniable attraction.
And the one thing Evelyn has learned from working with him is that Luke Devereaux gets what he wants.
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REVIEW: TESTING THE BOSS is the sixth installment in Mallory Crowe’s contemporary, adult BILLIONAIRES IN THE CITY romantic, suspense series. This is CEO billionaire Luke Devereaux, and FBI agent Evelyn Price’s storyline. Although TESTING THE BOSS can be read as a stand alone I would recommend reading the series in order as the threats and plots against the family continue to build throughout each storyline. Each of the storylines is interconnected with the characters crossing over between installments.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Luke and Evelyn) TESTING THE BOSS is a revealing storyline that begins to expose the people behind the threats against the Devereaux family. The group known as the Thirteen Stars, a white-collar criminal ring, has been trying to get Luke Devereaux on their side. With the assistance of the FBI, and the undercover presence of Evelyn Price, Luke tries to ferret out information about the high powered businesses and the people involved. What ensues is the collapse of the undercover operation and several attempts on Luke and Evelyn’s lives as someone is always one step ahead of Luke and Evelyn’s plans. Evelyn has her suspicions; Luke is oblivious but hints at a possible suspect; this reader was spot on with the guilty party(s) involved.
The initial relationship between Luke and Evelyn is caustic and bitter, but the sexual tension runs high throughout the story. Evelyn is an FBI agent who wants nothing to do with privileged rich boys with too much time on their hands who want to play cops and robbers. Already recovering from a gunshot wound, Evelyn finds herself in New York ‘babysitting’ Luke Devereaux while he tries to infiltrate the Thirteen Stars. Luke, on the other hand, takes an immediate liking to the acerbic FBI agent, and tries to break through Evelyn’s barriers and walled heart. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, although our heroine believes she has crossed the line between her job and her heart.
The secondary characters include several of the previous storyline couples and characters: Emma Devareaux and Jace Lance: Michael Devereaux and Lori Briggs; and Luke’s assistant Cali who keeps her finger on the pulse of everything in Luke’s personal and business life.
The world building continues to focus on the threats against the Devereaux family and their billion dollar enterprise DevX that provides cyber protection software to some of the largest defense contractors in the USA. The group known as the Thirteen Stars continues to pursue the Devereaux family and with Luke’s storyline some of the missing information as to the who, what and why is slowly revealed. This particular ARC of the series began in book four (Trusting the Boss). TESTING THE BOSS ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.
Mallory Crowe’s BILLIONAIRES IN THE CITY is a series focusing on white-collar crime, intrigue and high stakes revenge. There are moments of mystery and suspense, wrapped in a building romance between two people whose lives have crossed paths time and again. The premise is entertaining, and full of twist and turns with plenty of drama, betrayal and emotion; the characters are likeable and well developed- strong willed and independent thinkers; the romance is a build up to a profession of love. Mallory Crowe’s BILLIONAIRES IN THE CITY is a high stakes, who-dun-it, where revenge is the ultimate sin.
Reading Order
Teaching the Boss
Teasing the Boss
Tempting the Boss
Trusting the Boss
Touching the Boss
Testing the Boss
Copy supplied by Netgalley.
Reviewed by Sandy
He approached her and she was fascinated by the ripple of his muscles as he moved. “Real training?” she murmured.
“Like you wouldn’t want a chance to kick my ass?” He stopped just a foot away.
Her eyes widened as she finally got a hold of her libido and realized what he was saying. “You want to fight me?” she asked incredulously.
“No. I want you to teach me how you fight. I’ve had a bit of training and would like to see how I stack up next to a trained cop.”
“Agent,” she corrected. “And you know I can wipe the floor with you, right?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But I am bigger. And probably stronger.”
“But not smarter.” She smirked. Seriously, if he thought he could take her, he was out of his mind. Even with a leg that wasn’t up to par, she had been training to take down guys bigger and stronger than her from before she even entered the academy.
“I’ve gotten into one or two brawls, Evelyn. And I played football in the South. That shit gets intense.”
She let out a laugh. “High school football! I’ve taken down cartel leaders, murderers, and gangsters. Not exactly the same thing. I can take you in a heartbeat.”
He raised a brow. “Then prove it.”
A surge of adrenaline shot through Evelyn as she stared down Luke. “Fine. Move the weight bench and try not to break your head open when I knock you on your ass.”
He smiled in a way that told her that he wasn’t going to go down easy and she held her ground while he moved the bench. Probably the first time he actually did what she told him to. Once it was moved, they at least had a little room to move around. The ground wasn’t padded like she was used to while training, but a few bruises would do Luke some good. But she would give him one consolation. Holding onto her weight rack for support, she flipped off her tennis shoes and Luke followed suit.
The tension swirled in the air and she could tell Luke was probably just as excited about this as she was.
Once everything was moved out of the way, Luke stood a few feet away from her and she stood with her feet shoulder width apart, as they eyed each other cautiously. “How do we do this?” He shifted his weight.
She smiled confidently at him. “Come at me.”
A flash of uncertainty crossed his face. “What if I hurt you?”
She snorted. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
“You sound pretty sure of that.”
“I’m one hundred percent sure of that,” she warned. “If anyone is in danger, it’s you. Now, are you going to come at me or are you going to get on the treadmill to do a normal workout?”
He growled low in his throat at her threat and she knew that she’d pushed him enough. She tensed and narrowed her eyes as she looked for any sign that he was about to come at her.
And it wasn’t long before he lunged.
Tell us three behind the scenes facts about TESTING THE BOSS.
1 – Evelyn is named after the author Evelyn Adams. Without her help and support, I probably would not be a published author now.
2 – The cover model on TESTING is the same guy who’s on TOUCHING. I just loved him so much and, since the characters are brothers who look alike, I made it work.
3 – I was recently in New York City for a few days (previously I’d only been in the city for a few hours at a time). So this is the first book where I could use real life experience to describe the city.
What’s the last book you read and loved?
One of my author friends, Cali MacKay, just published the first part of this really cool project called FORBIDDEN about a woman who turns to a mysterious artist on a private island to keep her safe from her deranged ex. Except the mysterious man is actually a set of twins and she starts falling for both without realizing it. Cali’s been telling me all about the story as she was writing it and I couldn’t WAIT to get it and read for myself.
Out of all your heroes, who do you want to keep for yourself?
I think Simon from TEASING THE BOSS might be my favorite. Something about a sexy, redhead nerd alpha. Who also likes dogs…
Your next book TAMING THE BOSS will be the final book in the Billionaires in the City series. What are some of the things going through your mind at seeing this series end?
I’m really more excited than anything. Partially because I don’t feel like the series is ending, I feel like I’m opening a new chapter. I can’t give too many details yet, but the next series will be a little different in tone, but will still have the strong characters and bite of humor and suspense that the BITC series had. So I’m 100% thrilled to bring this new world to my readers.
What’s next for Mallory Crowe?
The last book in the Billionaire’s in the City series, TAMING THE BOSS, is coming out January and that shows the Devereaux’s dedicated assistant, Cali, going to northern Maine to drag back the black sheep of the family. Needless to say, he doesn’t make things easy for her in the best way possible.
Mallory Crowe has lived in Michigan her whole life and has been in love with romance ever since she’d skip to the end of every novel, just to make sure the hero and heroine survived and ended up together. She lives with her husband and three dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s spending too much time in front of the TV, hiking, or working with various animal rescues.
Website: http://www.mallorycrowe.com/home.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/croweink
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005600806967&fref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13623321.Mallory_Crowe
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