Hot Asset

didn’t connect that much with lara and ian,,, but kate and kennedy,,, i mean,,, omg theyre great awee

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance Hot Asset by Lauren Layne, is the first book in her Wall Street series and when I saw this Audiobook available on Libby I just had to grab it up. I have been wanting to read more of this author and I have to say this is my favorite book of her's so far. Now I can at times be picky about the enemies to lovers trope that is written but boy she NAILED it on the head with this book and I adored every single minute. There was something so unqiue and fresh about this story  that drew me in completely and within just a few minutes of listening, I was hooked into it. Our story begins with our lovely hero and heroine, Ian and Lara get into it in the most delicious ways. Ian is one of Wall Street's most successful men, a self made hero that has wealth and prestige and any pick of women in his bed. But is shocked when all his hard work and determination might be put at risk, when he comes under investigation and the woman after him is none other than Lara McKenzie. Lara is determined to get her ticket into the FBI. Both her parents are agents, and its been her dream. And now she is only one job away from achieving her dream. But Ian is proving difficult and challenging, and despite herself, she is beginning to admire his tenacity. The chemistry between them is explosive but will her feelings get in the way of her job and finding her dream career? Or will she be able to do what is right even at the cost of her dream? “I don’t give a damn about right and wrong, or black and white, or rules and protocols. I only give a damn about him, about the way he makes me feel.” Hot Asset was such a delicious romance and I had such a blast with this book. I first want to touch on the narration of this story. Now Zachary Webber is known among all of #romancelandia for sure. His voice is so yummy....that is all I can say. The way he narrates romance is just on tune with the character and he always nails it perfectly and he did so with Ian's character. I really adored the dual POV. if its 1st person I really prefer dual so we get both protaganists side of the story. And Zachary did a tremendous job in showing the true character of Ian. Then we have Samantha Cook. I am not sure if this is the first time that I have listened to her or not. But she did a perfect Lara in my opinion...the way these two narrate together was flawless in the most perfect ways. Now if you love enemies to lovers at all.....you NEED this book in your life for sure!! I have read a ton of this trope in the past and honestly, Lauren Layne does it BEST. It had just the right touch of angst without coming on too strong. The angst had that more "fun and sexy" feel to it and the tension between them was so engaging. I really adored the way their interactions just built up the story. We see the goodness in our hero. Now what I didn't expect was his past, and I really loved seeing a man who was a foster child, who really came from the worst situation and through hard work and self determination cultivated his own future and that was really beautiful to see. The friendship between his friends was truly entertaing and endearing. There is something about male friendships that I am really drawn to, in the same way I am drawn to in female friendships. The way they support each other, even if business wise they can be at odds, but when one of their own is in trouble, they really come together in unity and love and show that selfless support. I adored being able to see that in this book. Overall Hot Asset is a story that will deliver in the witty humor, self determined characters, an unsuspecting plot and a love story to quench your romantic thirst in the utterly satisfying way! TRULY A DELICIOUS MEAL OF DELIGHTS!

THIS WAS SO GOOD OMG!! At first, tbh, I wasn’t expecting much but ahhhhhh!!! I loved Lara and Ian so much and my god the voice actor for Ian….. Yeah…him saying ‘darling’ awoke something in me 💀 Lara was smart, intelligent and powerful which I loved and Ian was completely emotionless which was groundbreaking for a businessman romcom male lead. Their relationship was so cute and I was so invested in it, I basically couldn’t put it down. - 4.4 stars -

it was okay, nothing great but also not terrrible. i couldn’t really connect with the characters and i feel like ian was so immature towards lara for the first half of the book. the last 15% was cute though, so there’s that

3.5

Find this review and more at kimberlyfaye reads. Who'd have thought pairing up a Wall Street investor and the SEC agent investigating him for fraud and insider trading would result in such magic? Lauren, apparently. I freaking loved Ian and Lara and their story. The forbidden nature of their relationship, combined with their wicked hot chemistry, made Hot Asset an absolutely delightful read. One that I devoured in a few short hours.  Without giving too much of the story away, I have to say I love watching the cocky playboy guy fall hard for a heroine. There's something that's so fun when that guy is the who is one absolutely smitten. As was the case with Ian in this book. I loved the banter between him and Lara. Plus, I loved that I was kept guessing about whether or not he really was guilty... (And no, I'm not going to tell you.) There were some interesting twists, enough feels to make it interesting and sexy times so hot I thought might iPad might catch fire. The perfect combination! I'm convinced Lauren Layne could rewrite the dictionary and I'd totally love it. There's a reason she's one of my go-to, auto-buy/auto-request authors. Everything she writes is pure freaking gold. Hot Asset is no exception. I'm super excited about this new 21 Wall Street series and I can't wait for more! The good news is I have a review copy of the next book, Hard Sell. I just need to make time to read it — something I'm aiming to do quite soon. I received a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. FAVORITE QUOTES I've kissed my fair share of women—more than my fair share. But I've never needed to kiss one like I do this woman, never felt like I'll regret it the rest of my life if I don't take my chance. But Ian's real. He's real, and he makes me feel both feminine and powerful, and it's a delicious feeling. "So, fair warning... the next time we see my friends, there's a good chance there will be a sing-along. You're to tell them that I was sweet. Just turned eighteen."

Wavered between 2 (it was ok) and 3 (liked it) stars on this one - went with 3 basically b/c I generally like this author's books. Can't quite put my finger on why this one was a little blah for me. I didn't really like the H - he comes across as a real asshole in the first part of the book - a typical entitled dude who trades on his looks and bank account to snag a series of hookups - one night only, no repeats and also can't be anyone else's "leftovers". Describing women as "leftovers" is super-cringey to me. It's hard to come back from that and pull a 180 and become a nice guy who genuinely cares about a woman. Lara I liked much better. She has goals and plans and seems smart. I just don't get why she fell for Ian other than the afore-mentioned looks and money. I also don't get why Ian fell for her - like what prompted him to go from regarding women as interchangeable one-night stands to wanting a relationship, other than things somehow felt "different" with Lara. Perhaps that's why I didn't "feel" the relationship between these two.

personal disclaimer: Lauren Layne is my free pass in this genre. i have free pass when it's her books and no one can judge me for reading these...adult romances when it's HER adult romances.

Nothing special, but a solid romance.

I love a man in a suit!! Our hero is a Wall Street hot shot but he's under investigation for insider trading by the SEC – the heroine. They've got a bit of an enemies-to-lovers thing going on – they shouldn't want each other, but they do. I loved the banter and chemistry between them. Review to come! Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.