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Lincoln & Dakota’s Romance Is A Story Of Broken Hearts & Bossy Billionaires With A Seattle Vibe!
Commenté aux États-Unis 🇺🇸 le 8 avril 2022
There Are 16 Laugh Out Loud Moments By My Count As Well As 2 Teary Passages. Don't Forget To Download The Free Flash-Forward Via The Link At The Back Of The Book!
ABOUT THIS BOOK:
This book appears to be the first in a new Seattle-based series about bossy billionaires. It follows the Chicago-based Bad Chicago Bosses series. Though this Seattle story is somewhat similar, it does have a slightly different feel. It is more character-driven than prior stories. There is much less in terms of danger and major plot twists.
Fans will be thrilled as they come across several crossover references to other series by the author.
The heroine of this story hails from Dallas, North Dakota – home to the Knights of Dallas series. Her name, Dakota, is a constant reminder of her roots. Dakota’s friend, Rachel “Shelly” Simon got married last year to Weston McKnight, the enterprising local mechanic. Their story is told in book four of the series, The Worst Best Friend.
Sweeter Grind is a new Montana-based café that is hugely popular in Seattle and elsewhere. It is the creation of two sisters, and people cannot get enough of their famous Regis rolls. This hails back to the Heroes of Heart’s Edge series. Book three, No Broken Beast, is the emotional story of Leo “Nine” Regis and Clarissa Bell.
Lincoln’s friend Wyatt spent a year or two in Heart’s Edge in his youth. The time he spent time exploring mines with his friends certainly conjures memories of all the craziness that eventually made the small town so famous in the Heroes of Heart’s Edge series.
IN THIS BOOK:
This story opens in the spring in Seattle.
Dakota Poe, twenty-four, has a lot of attitude. The jaded blonde beauty has a super sweet side, but she also has a strong feisty streak that won’t be tamed. That might be especially true in the last year. She recently moved to Seattle and hopes to make it her forever home. She comes from Dallas, North Dakota. Many of Dallas’s younger folks eventually move away to bigger cities, but until last spring, Dakota had hoped to stay. She had plans until Jay Foyt broke her heart and forever crushed her dreams of a happily ever after. He never showed up on their wedding day. She was abandoned and humiliated, and in a small town, that is hard to live down. She no longer believes in love, so she is working on her career. She pounced on the opportunity when presented with a job offer in Seattle, but the pay leaves something to be desired and the work is not rewarding. She is therefore looking for something better.
Dakota loves writing, and like her distant relative, she gravitates toward poetry. Being related to Edgar Allen Poe has long led to jokes, but she is used to it. In some ways, she shares in the dark vibe of her ancestor, but her talent stands on its own. She won the Young National Poet’s award while in high school, and she hopes to eventually find more time to pursue her poetry.
Lincoln Burns, thirty-two, is the bossy billionaire CEO of Haughty But Nice, an upscale fashion empire. Their focus is quality, and they tend to steer away from over-the-top designs. He took over the helm when his mother retired shortly after his father’s death. It is a family company, with his mother still holding a majority of the shares. She pops in from time to time, but she is careful not to interfere. Lincoln worked his way through his grief and has not stopped since. He has brought modern business ideas to the job, and it has paid off in spades. His newest project is the launch of a wedding line. If they can pull it off, it stands to become a lucrative addition to their offerings. But the endeavor isn’t cheap, so there is also great risk. Marketing will be critical to their success.
Besides grieving his father’s death, Lincoln’s workaholic tendencies have a few more motivations. His best friend, Wyatt Emory, isn’t the same man he once was. Wyatt had been in love with his wife Olivia when he and Lincoln deployed to Mosul a decade ago, and that love destroyed him when he came home altered from the experience. It has been a rocky road for Wyatt since leaving the Marines and witnessing the downfall of the man to whom he owes his life has Lincoln taking note of the power of love to ruin a man. His own experience with love had been a disaster, and he never wants to repeat what he experienced when he made plans to spend his life with Regina Swann. Even his parents’ perfect marriage had a lesson for him. He didn’t particularly care to endure the kind of loss that he witnessed his mother experience after the loss of her husband of forty years.
Lincoln has decided that work, not love, is a more worthwhile use of time, and with Haughty But Nice, he has found purpose. He feels a responsibility for his employees who depend upon him for their paychecks. He gave up relationships years ago, much to his mother’s chagrin. He only does one-nighters, but even those haven’t interested him in quite some time. His mother worries that her only child will never give her grandchildren.
When Lincoln makes his usual stop at Sweeter Grind for their famous Regis roll, he panics when he learns that they have sold out. The last roll went to the woman in front of him in line, so it should be an easy fix. When the little firecracker refuses his attempts to sway her into giving up the treat, he finally walks away in disgust. When she shows up a few days later for an interview for the copywriting position to help launch the new wedding line, he hopes to quickly dismiss her. Despite her prickly disposition and her propensity to argue, however, she seems to impress the rest of his team. Before he knows it, he is offering to pay her top dollar to accept the job.
As Lincoln and Dakota embark on a combative work relationship, their chemistry is probably obvious to everyone except themselves. They are both damaged; neither is looking for a relationship. Dakota still carries the self-doubt that has plagued her since her breakup last spring, and Lincoln will never commit to more than a single night of passion. He has well-guarded secrets that he does not want to give up, but Dakota takes things into her own hands. As circumstances bring them closer together, their walls slowly begin to crumble. But there are rules against an office relationship, so they must get creative if they are going to give things a try. The couple eventually earns a very happy ending.
Don’t forget to download the free flash-forward via the link at the back of the book!
As of yet, there are no hints about making this book into a series, but Dakota’s neighbor and friend seems poised for a story of her own. Eliza dreams of one day opening a café, Liza’s Love, and spends all her free time perfecting recipes for her coffee and baked goods.
Lincoln and Dakota’s romance is a story of broken hearts with a Seattle vibe. It is about the homeless population and the plight of veterans. It is also about betrayal and self-control. Both have experienced rejection and humiliation, and their trust in others has been splintered. They really do spend a lot of time pushing one another away. Their story is a bit of a slow burn. Dakota is spirited and entertaining, and the Poe theme adds a playful element to the story. Lincoln is often grouchy but well-intentioned. He is easily misunderstood. He is rather adorably close with his mother, who gives him her unsolicited advice. He has been burying his feelings for years, so he is a bit of a ticking time bomb.
Lincoln and Dakota’s romance is a great story about broken hearts and bossy billionaires. There are sixteen laugh-out-loud moments by my count as well as two teary scenes. The book is nicely written. It seems a little less polished than the norm for this author. There are a few confusing points in the timeline. There is also the occasional confusing sentence or passage that had me going back to reread. Nevertheless, there are all the great ongoing jokes and references you might expect. It did begin to drag at the end; it felt like it could have been shortened. The plot is fairly simple. The story is character-driven. Lincoln and Dakota are both well-defined and three-dimensional. The story is told in first person. The POV alternates between Lincoln and Dakota. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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