**** 1/2
From the thrilling new author of Takeover, a steamy new novel about having all the control—and losing it…
Note from the author: This is the followup to Takeover and features Justin and Eli. Sam and Michael are fairly important characters in this book as well.
Justin White may not look like an up and coming corporate superstar, but his new boss knows he has the smarts, grit, and determination to succeed. Now he just has to convince his company’s CFO, Eli Ovadia. Unfortunately, Justin can’t seem to keep his cool around the domineering Eli—and soon he finds himself taking their heat from the boardroom into the bedroom….
Still haunted by a tragic accident that left him with a wounded leg and broken heart, Eli has a need to be in control. But his desire for Justin makes him want to lose that control—and push them both far beyond their limits. But will his need to dominate Justin drive him away—or will Eli find a way to be the man he needs for both of them?
Note from the author: This is the followup to Takeover and features Justin and Eli. Sam and Michael are fairly important characters in this book as well.
Justin White may not look like an up and coming corporate superstar, but his new boss knows he has the smarts, grit, and determination to succeed. Now he just has to convince his company’s CFO, Eli Ovadia. Unfortunately, Justin can’t seem to keep his cool around the domineering Eli—and soon he finds himself taking their heat from the boardroom into the bedroom….
Still haunted by a tragic accident that left him with a wounded leg and broken heart, Eli has a need to be in control. But his desire for Justin makes him want to lose that control—and push them both far beyond their limits. But will his need to dominate Justin drive him away—or will Eli find a way to be the man he needs for both of them?
Review:
Last year I had the pleasure of reading Takeover by Anna Zabo. I fell hard for the MC’s, Sam and Michael and I couldn’t wait for Anna Zabo’s next book in the series. Just Business is the story of Eli and Justin. Eli is the CFO for Sam’s (of Takeover fame) new company. Justin is the barista in the coffee shop below their office.
Justin’s barista gig is just a side job until he finishes his MBA at Carnegie Mellon. But when he overhears coffee shop regulars, Sam and Eli, discussing hiring an assistant, Justin is determined to get the job. Taking a chance, he gives Sam his resume while serving his coffee. Sam is impressed by his resume and his education enough to give him an interview. Eli, however, is not as impressed. Justin’s painted nails and emo-style of dress does not fit into Eli’s box of what is considered acceptable in the business world. But Justin is determined to land this job and shows up for his interview in his one suit. But he leaves the nail polish on just to piss Eli off. Of course, he lands the job.
Eli doesn’t know why the new assistant bugs him so much. Maybe it’s his lack of professional attire. Or to be more honest with himself, it might be that Eli finds Justin to be extremely attractive. Especially when he follows through with requests with such a submissive air. But it doesn’t matter. One, Eli doesn’t do relationships. Two, if he did, he certainly wouldn’t date a co-worker. Particularly a co-worker that technically works for him.
As you can guess, there is no fighting their attraction to one another. When the two of them meet, by chance, at a party hosted by others in the “scene”, they immediately begin an affair that quickly segues into a serious relationship that neither of them are quite ready for. Eli hasn’t been in a relationship in a decade and Justin’s last relationship ended due to emotional and physical abuse. Add those issues onto the fact that they work together and you have a perfect recipe for both angst and humor.
I loved so much about this book. Both Eli and Justin were fun and complex characters. They both had a sense of humor that could turn sexy at the drop of a hat. Let’s just say that I will never look at office filing the same way again. And it was fun to get a glimpse of Sam and Michael. Sam being Eli’s boss and Michael being an old friend of Eli, it was natural for them to play a significant role in Eli and Justin’s relationship.
But my favorite part of Just Business was their relationship in the bedroom. Eli is a Dom and Justin is a sub. I haven’t read a lot of stories where the MC’s live the BDSM lifestyle. The few that I have read have been hit or miss. I have to say that this is the best and hottest one I have read yet. One of my pet peeves is how some books (certainly not all) portray BDSM relationships as the result of one or both parties compensating for some past tragedy. As if only the most broken could possibly want to be in such a relationship. But that is definitely not the case here. Both Eli and Justin have their past issues, but the roles they wanted to play and did play were set long before those tragedies took place.
If you are looking for a super-hot, sexy and empowering BDSM romance featuring two heroes, I can’t recommend this one enough. Just Business is definitely in the running for my Top Ten of 2015.
Nat
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