Due Diligence by Anna Zabo

*** ½

From Intermix:


A business trip leads to a surprise encounter with an old flame in this sexy romance from the author of Just Business.
 
After Fazil Kurt breaks up with his girlfriend, a business trip to Seattle offers some much-needed time away. Sent by S.R. Anderson Consulting, Fazil is there to help audit Singularity Storage, a company they are trying to save. His first discovery is intriguing to say the least: One of Singularity's engineers is Todd Douglas, Fazil’s first love.
 
He knows better than to get personally involved on a job like this. Back in high school, Todd broke Fazil’s heart more times than he could count, but both men have grown so much since then—and Fazil never could say no to Todd...


Source: This book was received from Penguin/Intermix and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

Oh man.  Anna Zabo has done it again.  I just love the Takeover series.  I mean, we won’t discuss how many times I’ve re-read Just Business.  And now I can add Due Diligence to my comfort read list too.  Full of emotional moments, hot magic time and a guaranteed HEA.

Fazil Kurt has my love for life.  Add him to my list of book boyfriends now.  And what’s crazy is that he’s not my typical forever boy.  But from the very first chapter he just leaped off the page.  He’s dedicated and focused yet his inner turmoil was palpable.   It’s an excellent combination that made him unbelievably three dimensional.

It took me a longer time to warm up to Todd.  In the beginning, I got a vague feeling that he was gaslighting Fazil.   The only reason I dismissed my gut instinct was because this is a romance and he was definitely one of the heroes.  Also, I fully admit, I fell in love Fazil instantly so I immediately wanted to protect him and believe that he could do no wrong.  So poor Todd got the brunt of my distrust.   But things are never exactly the way we see them and there is always the other person’s side to the story.  No gaslighting here.  Just misunderstandings paired with insecurities that never completely went away after their teen years.

Once I was truly convinced that Todd was a nice guy, reading the push and pull between these two characters was a goose bump inducing treat.   Seeing them work through their shared history and trying so hard to not repeat it, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, was an emotional experience.  It was also hotter than hell.  The sex scenes in this book are rough and just a little dirty.  Let’s just say that Ms. Zabo certainly knows how to make her characters set my tablet on fire.  

My only complaint while reading this story was the one-sided insta-love.  One sided because it was only on Todd’s part.  Fazil was much more cautious and guarded with his feelings.  If you know me, insta-love is a really hard sell.  To be fair, Todd’s actions and feelings were totally in keeping with his character.  And let’s be honest, my own Fazil-love is probably clouding my judgement.  Again, poor, poor Todd.  This likable fellow is really getting some undeserved reservations from me. Oy!

If you are looking for a super-hot and satisfying romance, a love story that will engage you emotionally and serve up a perfect Happy Ever After, read Due Diligence right now!  And if you haven’t already, read the other two in this series.  You won’t be disappointed.

Nat