{"id":21311,"date":"2018-05-23T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=21311"},"modified":"2022-10-13T01:59:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T01:59:36","slug":"review-hot-asset-by-lauren-layne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/23\/review-hot-asset-by-lauren-layne\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Hot Asset by Lauren Layne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ian Bradley is the definition of a Wall Street hotshot: seven-figure salary, designer suits, and a corner office. His drive\u00a0off<\/i>\u00a0the floor is just as potent. Every woman who knows him has felt the rush. But now he\u2019s met his match in Lara McKenzie\u2014a woman with the power to bring Ian to\u00a0his<\/i>\u00a0knees.<\/span><\/p>

An ambitious, whip-smart daughter of FBI agents, Lara is a rising star in fighting white-collar crime. Her latest case\u2014the investigation of Ian Bradley for insider trading\u2014could make her career. She knows a scoundrel when she sees one. Ian fits the bill: a cocky, ridiculously handsome bad boy with a slick swagger.<\/span><\/p>

She\u2019ll do anything to prove he\u2019s guilty. He\u2019ll do anything to prove he\u2019s not. But it\u2019s only a matter of time before their fierce battle of wits gets\u00a0oh so hot<\/i>\u00a0and personal. Now, taking down Ian has become more than business for Lara. It\u2019s become a pleasure\u2014and there\u2019s more at risk than she ever dreamed.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0May 22, 2018
Series:<\/strong>\u00a021 Wall Street
<\/em>Book: <\/strong>1
Heat Level:<\/strong>\u00a0Hot
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Amazon Publishing
Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Montlake
Price:<\/strong>\u00a0$4.99<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Wall Street is getting its day on the romance market in Layne\u2019s first book to a new series.<\/p>

This book was a bit shorter in length then what I typically expect from a Layne romance, but that may be due to the tropes and the challenge of pulling off this story without the hero being unlikeable.<\/p>

We have rich, attractive, Wall Street investment broker Ian Bradley facing off with an SEC investigator Lara McKenzie. Ian\u2019s the guy who always gets the woman and doesn\u2019t do relationships. Then there\u2019s Lara who\u2019s been so focused on her career she doesn\u2019t do anything but eat, sleep, and work her butt off towards that dream goal of getting into the FBI. It\u2019s a match made for conflict, tension, and so it appears\u2026 dual first person POV. Not my favorite point of view, but I\u2019ve enjoyed it before.<\/p>

What works, Layne\u2019s natural talent for telling about life in the big city. The crisp details, every setting easily transports me. The entire cast is set up seamlessly, including the couples for the remaining two books. The characters and their troubled, yet fabulous lives. We\u2019ve all got skeletons and monsters lurking in corners, but in the meantime, they\u2019re rich and able to spend money out the wazoo. I tend to enjoy escaping into that reality knowing full well I\u2019ll never live it. The conflict, tension built from an informal SEC investigation and an all-consuming attraction, on Ian\u2019s side of things, to the one woman he can\u2019t lay a finger on.<\/p>

Which leads me to my concerns\u2026<\/p>

Bradley\u2019s main conflict through the entire story is his attraction to Lara. It\u2019s not only the highlight, but the entire thing. While there is a little subplot of finding out who\u2019s trying to frame him for insider trading, it plays backseat fiddle to him fighting lust and desire for a woman he can\u2019t have. A woman he realizes is dedicated to the fundamentals of truth and justice. Plus, Lara\u2019s no one-night stand woman. She\u2019s they type who wants something real, which is exactly what Ian doesn\u2019t want. The cat and mouse is all right, but carrying most of the story becomes a bit of an issue.<\/p>

My other problem is that every time Ian says he\u2019s not going to force her to act on her feelings, doesn\u2019t want her to act without knowing he\u2019s innocent, but then dangles his want over her head it reads a bit toxic to me. Additionally, he attempts to break the ground rules she puts in place to keep them both safe in the professional capacity.\u00a0Not exactly heroic, and something I find myself turned off by more and more. Thankfully, Layne resolves this issue as best she can with the characters and the subject matter, I can\u2019t go into more detail without the dreaded spoilers. In the end, I didn\u2019t love this book as much as I wish I did.<\/p>

The resolution and some of the turns and twists were things I didn\u2019t expect and others were. The final grand gesture turned out to be nice, sweet, and fitting for the modern, chic world Layne is creating. I can only hope the next book in the series puts Layne back in that sweet, auto-read spot for me.<\/p>

~ Landra\u00a0<\/em><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \t <\/div>\n\t \n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ian Bradley is the definition of a Wall Street hotshot: seven-figure salary, designer suits, and a corner office. His drive\u00a0off\u00a0the floor is just as potent. 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His drive\u00a0<i>off<\/i>\u00a0the floor is just as potent. Every woman who knows him has felt the rush. But now he\u2019s met his match in Lara McKenzie\u2014a woman with the power to bring Ian to\u00a0<i>his<\/i>\u00a0knees.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An ambitious, whip-smart daughter of FBI agents, Lara is a rising star in fighting white-collar crime. Her latest case\u2014the investigation of Ian Bradley for insider trading\u2014could make her career. She knows a scoundrel when she sees one. Ian fits the bill: a cocky, ridiculously handsome bad boy with a slick swagger.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">She\u2019ll do anything to prove he\u2019s guilty. He\u2019ll do anything to prove he\u2019s not. But it\u2019s only a matter of time before their fierce battle of wits gets\u00a0<i>oh so hot<\/i>\u00a0and personal. Now, taking down Ian has become more than business for Lara. It\u2019s become a pleasure\u2014and there\u2019s more at risk than she ever dreamed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0May 22, 2018<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>21 Wall Street<br \/><\/em><strong>Book: <\/strong>1<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong>\u00a0Hot<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Amazon Publishing<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Montlake<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong>\u00a0$4.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wall Street is getting its day on the romance market in Layne\u2019s first book to a new series.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book was a bit shorter in length then what I typically expect from a Layne romance, but that may be due to the tropes and the challenge of pulling off this story without the hero being unlikeable.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We have rich, attractive, Wall Street investment broker Ian Bradley facing off with an SEC investigator Lara McKenzie. Ian\u2019s the guy who always gets the woman and doesn\u2019t do relationships. Then there\u2019s Lara who\u2019s been so focused on her career she doesn\u2019t do anything but eat, sleep, and work her butt off towards that dream goal of getting into the FBI. It\u2019s a match made for conflict, tension, and so it appears\u2026 dual first person POV. Not my favorite point of view, but I\u2019ve enjoyed it before.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What works, Layne\u2019s natural talent for telling about life in the big city. The crisp details, every setting easily transports me. The entire cast is set up seamlessly, including the couples for the remaining two books. The characters and their troubled, yet fabulous lives. We\u2019ve all got skeletons and monsters lurking in corners, but in the meantime, they\u2019re rich and able to spend money out the wazoo. I tend to enjoy escaping into that reality knowing full well I\u2019ll never live it. The conflict, tension built from an informal SEC investigation and an all-consuming attraction, on Ian\u2019s side of things, to the one woman he can\u2019t lay a finger on.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Which leads me to my concerns\u2026<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bradley\u2019s main conflict through the entire story is his attraction to Lara. It\u2019s not only the highlight, but the entire thing. While there is a little subplot of finding out who\u2019s trying to frame him for insider trading, it plays backseat fiddle to him fighting lust and desire for a woman he can\u2019t have. A woman he realizes is dedicated to the fundamentals of truth and justice. Plus, Lara\u2019s no one-night stand woman. She\u2019s they type who wants something real, which is exactly what Ian doesn\u2019t want. The cat and mouse is all right, but carrying most of the story becomes a bit of an issue.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My other problem is that every time Ian says he\u2019s not going to force her to act on her feelings, doesn\u2019t want her to act without knowing he\u2019s innocent, but then dangles his want over her head it reads a bit toxic to me. Additionally, he attempts to break the ground rules she puts in place to keep them both safe in the professional capacity.\u00a0Not exactly heroic, and something I find myself turned off by more and more. Thankfully, Layne resolves this issue as best she can with the characters and the subject matter, I can\u2019t go into more detail without the dreaded spoilers. In the end, I didn\u2019t love this book as much as I wish I did.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The resolution and some of the turns and twists were things I didn\u2019t expect and others were. The final grand gesture turned out to be nice, sweet, and fitting for the modern, chic world Layne is creating. I can only hope the next book in the series puts Layne back in that sweet, auto-read spot for me.<\/p><p><em>~ Landra\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Ln2Snm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}