My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Acacia Santos excels at her job as concierge at the prestigious Hotel Victoire in Paris. When her superior, Marcel, is attacked in a supposed random mugging, she is tasked with serving one of the hotel’s most mysterious and attractive guests.
Nicholas Cassirer checks into the hotel under an assumed name every three months. Usually, he stays in the penthouse suite with a beautiful female companion but on this occasion, he arrives alone and is displeased in having to deal with someone new. A match of wits ensues as he tests Acacia’s expertise with a series of almost impossible demands. Her intelligence and creativity rise to the challenge, earning his respect.
They strike a tenuous accord until Acacia discovers a famous stolen painting in his suite, she contacts a former boyfriend who works for the elite BRB, a unit of French law enforcement that deals with art thefts.
Nicholas is questioned by police and released when it is revealed the painting is a reproduction. Irked with her behavior, Acacia’s supervisor demotes her threatening dismissal and the cancellation of her work permit.
But Acacia has already attracted Nicholas’s attention. Remorseful that she may lose her job on his account, he offers her a choice – she can wait until her supervisor dismisses her, or she can leave the city of lights behind and become his personal assistant.
Acacia initially refuses his offer, but Nicholas is persistent. He reveals himself as a man who quietly acquires stolen art in order to restore it to its rightful owners. Faced with mounting familial debts and the possibility of dismissal and deportation, she agrees to work for him.
Nicholas opens up a whole new world of beauty and intrigue to Acacia as they travel the globe. Soon the line between employer and assistant is blurred, and the two lonely people embark on a passionate relationship.
copy received for an honest and unbiased review.
I went into this book blind. I didn't read the blurb, didn't read reviews. just dove in. So this was all me. For a while after reading the prologue I was still left wondering, who was that about? Some random woman? I mean we really aren't given too many bread crumbs for that right away, so it almost seems irrelevant. It's not, it does matter, it just takes us some time to get there. You're going to want to remember how this started.
I was immediately drawn in to the story. Something about Acacia and our rude hotel guest(s), just sucked me in . Not only because she's independent and strong willed, determined to succeed, it was just the mystery of who the Man in the Black Suit was. Who or what was the cause of danger? Who's behind it all and what's really going on? What's the big deal about the book? Then all the sudden ... she's jumping ship and travelling with him because she's in trouble at work and someone wants what she has? okay, let's roll with that ...
Now the danger increases, truths come out, but we still don't know more... and here comes my slight problem. I'm reading this book, it's taking me places I've never been, literally, and I'm felt feeling stupid or maybe naive. Stupid really isn't the word, but I'm left feeling like maybe I need to travel more, or research art history, war, or history in general, maybe even religion too. Which isn't really a bad thing to expand your knowledge, but not really a feeling you want to be left with while reading a book. Not only that , I had to keep using the translation help to see what terms of endearment they were using. I didn't want to be so left out. So that takes me out of the story. it also disconnects me emotionally from it because I feel like I'm not smart enough for this storyline. Am I the only one who ever feels this way?
But I trudged on... I'm glad I did. Just like any other book, I had a love/hate with the storyline. Some things I loved, some I didn't so much. Some things just felt like they needed better explanation. Like how the heck he has a security team and access that trumps most government agencies. But again, it's fiction, we can roll with it.
I feel like this book was two people getting to know each other, art history, the recovery of lost/stolen items, and then the romance was an added bonus. I'm not usually a fan of instalove, but I liked it here. I would've liked to see their friendship that they claimed to have built a little better. It would've made for a stronger connection with me and the characters.
Now while I liked Acacia and her ability to defend herself, I was again surprised at the contacts used and how it all played out. Knowledge and secrets are power, I guess. But for me, this added to the whole I might not be smart enough to read this feeling. And now, now all this drama is going on. For me, it was like it hit out of no where. We knew it had to be coming, but I didn't expect it that quick. We had next to none if the first 64% and now I feel like it's jam packed. While it's a good thing, because it kept me up reading, engaged, involved and sitting on the edge of my seat. and boy was there a lot of drama. Out of one frying pan, into another. it was nonstop up until the end, and everything just fell into place as needed and everyone participated and helped just in time.
With all that being said, and I know it feels like all I did was complain, honestly it really w as a pretty decent book . I don't think that's even the right word to use. This definitely wasn't decent, it was good. It was definitely good. I did really like it. I liked how Sylvain immediately pulled me into the story, I love the feeling that he took me all over the world with their travels, and i loved the mystery and drama of their investigation and chase to find the culprits. I just feel like you may just like it more with a decent knowledge of other countries, art and maybe even religion. while Sylvain did a great job of giving me a great tale that shut my brain off and literally took me all over the world, I would have really liked more of a larger HEA. We were given so much already, so many details of every little thing, I just wanted a little...more at the end.
I gave this 4 stars
***EXCERPT***
Nicholas sat back on one of the
benches and pulled her to straddle him. He spanned her hips with his hands,
under the water. “Kiss me.”
She tilted her head to take his
mouth and tasted his lips leisurely before she pushed her tongue inside.
His palms slid up her back and
crushed her against his chest.
She inclined her head the other way
and tugged at his upper lip.
Nicholas kissed his way to her chin
and down to her neck. He licked at the skin and pulled it into his mouth.
Acacia exposed her neck even more.
He nipped a path to her collarbone
and traced it with his finger. When she shivered at the sensation, he cradled
her breast above the water and wrapped his mouth around her nipple.
Acacia hummed and
squirmed in his lap at the sensation.
~~GET YOUR COPY TODAY~~
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