*I received a free copy of Hard Sell from Montlake Romance via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Hard Sell by Lauren Layne Series: 21 Wall Street #2
Published by Montlake Romance on September 4, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 247
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
He’s a Wall Street wolf. She’s been hired to tame him. From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne comes a wildly sexy novel of business and pleasure.
Twenty-eight and filthy rich, Matt Cannon is the youngest broker on Wall Street. He may be a “boy wonder,” but he’s every inch a man. Ask any woman—any night. But when Matt’s latest fling makes scandalous headlines, his clients get anxious, and his bosses at Wolfe Investments level an ultimatum: keep his assets zipped, get a “real” girlfriend, and clean up his act. Only one woman can help Matt with something this hard.
For PR genius Sabrina Cross, the best fixer in Manhattan, playing Matt’s steady is going to be a challenge, even if it’s just for show. They already have an explosive history, she can’t stand the cocky party boy, and worse—she can’t stop thinking about him. So who’ll dare to break her “no touching” rule first? Because when that happens, Matt and Sabrina’s game of let’s pretend will get so hot it could set both their reputations on fire.
After meeting Sabrina and Matt in Hot Asset, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Hard Sell to find out the story between these two. I was not disappointed. The chemistry was visceral, the banter snarky-sexy, and the back stories were compelling. Layne is quickly becoming a contemporary romance favorite of mine.
Matt needs an image overhaul STAT! Pictures of him partying it up in Vegas were printed in the Wall Street Journal, making his clients question his credibility which is NOT a good thing when you’re managing millions in assets. Sabrina is a “fixer” so Matt seeks out her help in the plot his employers have concocted…that he’s ready to settle down. He knows Sabrina is perfect for the job because there’s absolutely no risk of her falling for him. Ah…the best laid plans.
Hard Sell was sweet, sexy, and fun. I enjoyed getting better acquainted with both Matt and Sabrina – especially getting to know what tipped the scales in the love/hate relationship. They’ve always argued and fought but the sexual tension was obvious. Neither was interested in long-term and learning the reasons behind their feelings was insightful. I understood them so much better once they opened up and let the other in. Besides spending time with Matt and Sabrina, Layne also allowed us more access to Ian and Lara, and Kennedy and Kate. I appreciate the close-knit friendships of the guys and I adore the fact that the girls have all gotten close. The dynamics between them are all fun as well as realistic.
The only fault I could find with Hard Sell was that some of the drama was a bit contrived. Overall though, I adored Matt and Sabrina and I’m anxious for Kennedy and Kate’s story!
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
I enjoy those books with all that tension when two people don’t get along at first and then they slowly slip into a relationship. I’ve heard such good things about this series.
Enjoyed your review, Brandee!
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed my review, Sophia. I hope you’ll check out this series. It’s definitely fun and worth the read. 🙂
I officially fell in love with Lauren Layne this year, and one of the things she does so well is assemble those amazing friend-groups. Hate-to-Love, fabulous friends, and great family ties, I’m sold!
Me too, Sam! I’d never read Layne until recently when I read Hot Asset. Now I’m even more excited to read more from her. 🙂
Twitter: talksupeblog
I can tell you really enjoyed this one and from the sound of it, this book also set up the rest of the series by introducing more characters/couples. Man, I wish I enjoyed romance again, I’m missing out on a lot it seems.
I wish you enjoyed romance again too – but hey, you’re living so you don’t need to read it! 😀 If you ever decide to dip your toe back in, Layne is a great author for contemp romance. *mwah*
Twitter: nadz1809
This sounds fun. I need to start reading this author’s work. Great review.
I highly recommend her, Nadene. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed this, Brandee! I love Lauren Layne’s books and this one was no different for me. Sabrina and Matt were so good together! I can’t wait for the next one already. I need it now!
I can’t wait for the next one either, Nick! Actually, when reading Hot Asset I couldn’t decide if I wanted Matt and Sabrina’s story or Kennedy and Kate’s story more! 😀
Not loving the contrived drama (sometimes I don’t mind and sometimes I have a low tolerance for it) but this one sounds fun enough that I probably could ignore it. I think I need to check out this author.
The rest of the story kinda made up for the drama, Melissa. Layne is quickly becoming a go-to for contemporary romance. 🙂
Great review! Robin is reviewing this one next week. I think this author seems like fun. I can’t believe I don’t have any of her books. Anne – Books of My Heart
Thanks, Anne! Layne is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance writers! 🙂
Oh yay! I enjoyed this one, too. I did think the initial reaction from everyone about the bachelor party was a bit ridiculous but I enjoyed the book itself and seeing the two deal with each other 🙂
I agree about the bachelor party. Of course, there were drugs pictured? Actually, I don’t know if they appeared in the photo but they were in the article. However, it was a bachelor party and I think pretty much anything goes at those. 😉 But Matt and Sabrina together was gold!
Yeah I think the pic was just him getting the lap dance. Then in the article it mentioned others in the group doing drugs. I thought it was a bit far fetched that that would make it into a prestigious newspaper and that as good as he was at his job that his clients would all bail on him over that. I wish the catalyst for the whole thing had been more solid but other than that I was happy with their story 🙂 And I’m ready for the next one for sure 🙂
It was a little flimsy. That’s a common thing in a lot of contemps I’ve read lately. But I still enjoyed this particular story. 🙂