Starred review from October 6, 2014
Ashenden (the Talking Dirty books) breaks into print with a highly promising contemporary series about a group of self-made, damaged billionaires. Gabriel Woolf, born of violence into poverty, muscled his way into riches and has one goal in mind: ruining Guy Tremain, the man who raped his mother. Tremain’s stepdaughter, hotshot investor Honor St. James, is the key to his revenge. Gabe offers to invest in Tremain’s failing hotel chain if Honor gives him a personal tour of a luxury lodge in Vermont. His mission is sidetracked when he pushes the elegant Honor hard enough for her to push back, igniting an affair that may not survive family secrets, childhood betrayals, and Gabe’s guilt over real and imagined sins. The sex is dirty-sweet, with a dark lick of dominance and the tantalizing
potential of redemption, and an explosive ending provides the perfect closure to Gabe and Honor’s story while setting up the next installment. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary.