CBR16 Book 37: "Not in Love" by Ali Hazelwood

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 5 stars

Rue Siebert has never wanted a relationship, she's finds men to hook up with on dating apps and has a strict rule about one night only. When her latest date is interrupted by her drunken brother and the night doesn't end the way she expected, she breaks her rule and gives the guy her phone number. Nevertheless, she doesn't expect to see him again.

Unexpectedly, she sees him again as soon as the next morning, when he is part of the venture capitalist firm, which may be taking over Kline, the food science start-up where Rue and her best friend work. Rue's boss and mentor, who she really looks up to, claim that the company will be fine, but Rue is worried. She grew up with a lot of instability and uncertainty and has finally achieved financial stability and has a career she enjoys. This possible takeover is threatening all of that.

Eli Killgore and his business partners have very specific reasons for wanting to take over Kline and have worked for nearly a decade to get where they are now. What he was not expecting was seeing Rue, the mystery woman he hasn't been able to forget after their brief, interrupted date. With the power dynamics so drastically altered, Eli should put Rue out of his mind. Rue, on the other hand, keeps being warned by her mentor to stay away from all of the venture capital people, but every interaction she has with them is pleasant and all of them seem to have science backgrounds and be genuinely interested in the work that's taking place at Kline. They don't just seem like heartless capitalists, only worried about money and the bottom line.

Even though they should stay away from each other, Eli and Rue can't seem to avoid ending up close together, and even after allowing herself one night with Eli, Rue no longer seems able to stick to her 'one night only' rule, because she is as addicted to Eli's company and attention as he seems to be to hers. Whether they have any sort of long-term future together is another issue - Rue doesn't do relationships, Eli is part of a group who seems determined to destroy her boss' career.

I may have to give up on my hopes of Hazelwood ever writing a short, dumpy hero, but at least in this book, the heroine is also tall. In another break from her earlier books, the hero hasn't been broodingly pining for the heroine for years, which I also appreciate. Here we get a heroine who is used to having to fend for herself and is unused to and to begin with, incapable of being taken care of, and that is a trope that always seems to melt my heart. The hypercompetent people who do so much to stay in control and take care of everything and everyone around them (although in Rue's case, she's a rather stand-offish, introverted, and most likely neuro-divergent grump, so there aren't that many people in her life for her to take care of), and then find that special someone who only wants to be there for them and care for them. 

Eli is good at caring, he has been taking care of his younger sister since their parents died when he was a teenager and she was much younger. His life has taken a lot of unexpected turns, and he has had to work hard to get where he is now. While he and his friends are now venture capitalists, they tend to buy up failing businesses, not to destroy and gut them, but to help the business do scientifically or technologically useful things. There is a personal aspect to their interest in Kline, the company Rue works for, but it's also nice to see a nuanced portrayal of wealthy money people, instead of the usual uncaring suits who only want results, or to destroy people's livelihoods for profit.

It tends to be much easier for me to review a book I didn't much like than one I loved. I have also not made it easier for myself by waiting nearly two months after finishing this one to review it. I don't remember all the reasons I loved this book (and the main reason I haven't re-read it is that I like doing that via audiobook, and I really disliked the narrators of this one), but I'm going to try. There are some great supporting characters in this, like Eli's younger sister, Rue's best friend, Eli's business partners who are also his friends and seem close enough to be a found family for him. There's a very good dog. There's the couple cooking together (I also love this) and because Rue and Eli both seem rather overwhelmed by the attraction between them, they have this thing where they share something really negative about themselves, like the worst things they've ever done or thought, seemingly hoping they will scare the other one away. Of course, a lot of these things just expose how vulnerable they are and how difficult their lives have been up to the point where they met each other, and it was a really nice touch.

By now it's clear that no matter what Ali Hazelwood writes, I will pre-order it and probably love it. I understand why her books are not for everyone, but for me, this worked on every level and I think it may be her strongest novel yet. If you have tried Hazelwood before and disliked her writing style, I can't promise that this will change your mind, but she's clearly evolved a lot as a writer since publishing The Love Hypothesis (her weakest book, in my opinion). I will be impatiently awaiting her next book, whether it be paranormal or regular contemporary romance. 

Judging a book by its cover: Hazelwood is lucky enough to get cover artists who actually seem to depict the characters the way they are actually described in the book (certainly not a given) and they're usually portrayed in a loving embrace of some kind. I think the artist here has managed to show how besotted Eli is with Rue, while she seems a bit more restrained. In case you didn't know that Hazelwood sets most of her books in a STEM environment, the artist has also helpfully thrown in some test tubes with mysterious liquid there on the side of the couple - science! There were apparently several special editions published of this book, with various extra art and bonus features. If you go to Hazelwood's Instagram account, there are pictures of the other images, all of which are very good. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 10: "En enda natt" (All In) by Simona Ahrnstedt

Page count: 495 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: First in a finished series

CBR16 Sweet Books: New (new author AND first time reading romance in Swedish)

Financial bad boy and seemingly ruthless venture capitalist David Hammar is a self-made man and has acquired his wealth and power for one purpose, which he is close to achieving. He is determined to take over Investum, one of the biggest companies in Sweden, owned and controlled by the powerful De la Grip family. Since the takeover might go smoother if his company has at least one member of the family on their side, he arranges to meet the daughter of the family, Natalia De la Grip, for a business lunch. 

Natalia is extremely good at her job and keeps getting great references from current and previous employers. Working as a financial analyst, she desperately wants to prove herself capable and skilled enough to earn a place on the board of Investum. After her fiancée left her, she more or less lives at her work. She has no idea why David Hammar, considered a dangerous young upstart by her father, would want to meet with her, but is curious enough to go to the appointment (especially after her best friend Åsa goes on about how handsome and sexy David is). It doesn't take David long to conclude that Natalia is far too eager to please her father to ever betray the family name and join his revenge plot. The two have undeniable chemistry, however, and although he knows it's a terrible idea, he goes out of his way to do her a personal favour, even though he should forget about her and continue with his takeover plans.

Natalia knows her father and brother consider David Hammar some sort of personal nemesis, but when he claims to have double-booked so he won't be able to attend a concert (this is a total lie), offering her the tickets instead (an intimate concert with her favourite artist), they start texting, and soon he's invited her to dinner, which ends with them spending a passionate night together. It's only supposed to be one single night (the Swedish title of the book, in fact), but despite both knowing it's a terrible idea, they keep meeting and gradually falling for one another. David's best friend and business partner, Michel, is deeply uncomfortable about the rapidly escalating situation and keeps asking his friend to let Natalia down gently, before she discovers he's been lying to her the whole time, and his major personal and professional motivation is to ruin her family.

So this book has been on my actual physical bookshelf since 2016. I tracked down a copy and bought it in paperback after reading this very favourable review over on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and since then it's lingered unread. More fool me, this book was a cracking read, with so many soap opera elements. It not only kept me up far too late at night reading after I started reading it, but I spent most of a Sunday doing almost nothing but reading to finish it. 

I'm trying to severely limit my reading challenges this year, after a few years of having most of my reading choices dictated by them. Nevertheless, I need to set myself SOME guidelines, especially to keep chipping away at my TBR list, and one of the goals I've set for myself is to read at least one of the Swedish or Norwegian books on my shelf per month. I barely ever read anything but English, which I'm starting to feel rather guilty about, especially considering how many Norwegian and Swedish language books have accumulated on my shelves. I've made some attempts at reading Norwegian contemporary fiction, much of it very critically lauded, and with very few exceptions, I'm bored senseless. One would think the answer would instead be to read the genres I enjoy in my first and second languages, especially since I literally already bought and paid for the books. Romance, fantasy, historical fiction - it's all there, being ignored because of all the shiny English-language books I let distract me. 

TL, DR - I decided to finally read this book, and should clearly have done so sooner. Ahrnstedt started out writing historical romances (must see if I can track those down as well) and it clearly made her good at research. I don't know all that much about high finance or corporate shenanigans, but all of the stuff included in the book felt very realistic. It probably doesn't hurt that I spent much of the second half of last year finally watching all four seasons of Succession. So many deplorable rich people, intrigue, double-dealing, and betrayal. It made all of the stuff that happens in this book seem highly plausible.

Being used to reading English-language romance, I'm used to there being only one or maybe two POV characters. We usually only get the story from the heroine and/or hero's perspective. Here, Ahrnstedt gives us insight into quite a few characters, not just Natalia and David, our protagonists, but also Natalia's best friend, Åsa; David's best friend and business partner, Michel, occasionally also one of Natalia's brothers. There's a also very slow-burn secondary romance developed between Åsa and Michel, who used to be friends in their university days. 

Because of some seriously bad stuff in his and his family's past, David's anger towards Gustav and Peter De la Grip (Natalia's father and eldest brother) is understandable, but even his best friend and partner doesn't know the full extent of his animosity and why he's so determined to take over their company and ruin their lives. He keeps being told by his best friend and mentor that vengeance won't actually give him the satisfaction he thinks it will, especially if it means absolutely devastating a woman he clearly cares for. It takes him a long time to realise that they are correct. 

Natalia is a very engaging romance heroine. She's driven and very competent, and while I don't know anything about high finance, the author clearly did her research and shows us in a number of ways, rather than just telling us how capable Natalia is. She really wants to work for the family business, unfortunately, her father, the CEO of Investum, is infamously sexist and doesn't believe women can hack it in business. He keeps proving this to himself by occasionally hiring women, making it so difficult for them to do their jobs, ending with them quitting, usually utterly crushed. The only one of his children he even vaguely has to have time for is his eldest son and heir, Peter, and only because he wouldn't dare do anything to piss off dear old dad. 

Both Natalia's mother and Peter's wife are women who support Gustav's old-fashioned and draconian view of gender roles, happily staying at home and expressing disbelief over women like Natalia who want careers and professional recognition. Why can't she just find herself a nice, rich husband who will support her, so she can live a life of leisure and settle down to have babies?

Basically, if Natalia wasn't so likable, I think I would be entirely in David's corner, cheering on his plan to take down and humiliate the De la Grip family, who are also part of the Swedish nobility and pretty much perfect examples of selfish and clueless rich assholes. Natalia has always felt like the odd one out of her family. The only one who seems to care for her at all is her younger brother Alexander, the handsome wastrel son who revels in drinking and carousing and never seems to stay in one place for very long. Her only friend is another driven career woman, who due to terrible personal losses early in life, seems to have difficulties showing affection or closeness to anyone (and hence acts like a b*tch a lot of the time when Natalia could use support).

Becoming more socialist with every passing day, a plot to take down and humiliate rich people very much appeals to me. The fact that David is a superwealthy venture capitalist tarnishes his halo a tad, and he ends up really breaking Natalia's heart. I do not think he groveled nearly enough towards the end of this novel and that Natalia was far too quick to forgive him for his many thoughtless actions, which is why I can't rate this higher than four stars. That, and the book just felt too long. I'm very glad I have the next two books in the series on my bookshelf, though. The next one is about Alexander, the playboy who is apparently haunted by mysterious shit, and a beautiful doctor lady who works in wartorn countries, and who from their encounters in this book seems to loathe him. So that promises to be fun.

Judging a book by its cover: It's not that the red evening dress on the cover isn't striking, and I love the way it flows down like some lush wave to the bottom of the cover image, but our heroine wears exactly one red dress over the course of the story, and there is a detailed description of how much leg said dress shows. This dress, for all its prettiness, shows absolutely no leg. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read