Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Joshua Silverton returns home for the first time in seven years to attend a beloved cousin’s wedding. He discovers his father has been dead a year and that his trust fund, the same one that has been paying for his wandering life, is drying up fast. Joshua and his father never got on, but finding out that his entire inheritance, as well as father’s thriving company, have been given to a complete stranger comes as a nasty shock. Near to penniless, Joshua decides to confront the mysterious Ezra Steele and find a way to get his inheritance back.
Ezra wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But he has achieved his success honestly, regardless of what those around him whisper behind his back. He lives a rather empty life with a different man in his bed every night and no friends to speak of until he meets Joshua. The two share an intense attraction and, despite the fact that trust remains an issue between them, they begin a tentative relationship. But Ezra has secrets and Joshua has plenty of people telling him that Ezra is a thief and a liar. Neither of them cares about the money, but it could end up destroying them both.
BOSS was a fast paced, gratifying read with plenty of drama and passion rounding out a good plot. The author has produced a narrative with a strong central theme that carries throughout the book and never wanders too far from its purpose. The plot as a whole moves quickly but smoothly until the very end when it jumps the rails. The ending is really this book’s only major flaw. All the problems confronting Ezra and Joshua are resolved too quickly and the last several of chapters feel awkward and rushed. They have none of the natural ease that rolls so wonderfully throughout the rest of BOSS. But aside from a less than strong ending, the overall storyline to BOSS drew me in and kept me riveted.
Joshua and Ezra are both radically different characters and yet similar at the same time. Both are initially portrayed as rather shallow and unfeeling, yet they have hidden depths and these often serve as redemptive qualities. Joshua is all together unlikeable for much of the book. He’s spoiled, entitled, and manipulative. Because of these less than stellar personality traits, it would have been easy to hate him. Instead the author infused his character with just enough humanity and passion to make him interesting, thus saving him from ridiculousness. He is not exactly charming, but he has moments of sweetness that endear him to the reader. Ezra is something of a man whore when we first meet him, yet he is perfectly willing to demonstrate constancy to Joshua if he will only allow Ezra to do so. Ezra’s past is tragic without being excessively so and many of his reactions and habits feel natural to the character. Like Joshua he feels very human and this makes him relatable and believable. When these two get together, the chemistry is powerful and feels like a comfortable extension of their relationship. There is nothing easy or ordinary about these men and their happily after never seems completely assured, which added a layer of depth to the plot that I found incredibly engaging.
There are several secondary characters peppered throughout BOSS, including Joshua’s cousin and Ezra’s ex-wife. While Ezra and Joshua read as fully formed constructs, many of the secondary characters suffer from too little fleshing out or too much over the top caricaturizing. While these creations didn’t detract heavily from the book, nor did they add over much. And on at least a couple of occasions they simply seemed too ridiculous to believe. Such is the curse of so many secondary characters, but thankfully they didn’t do too much damage to BOSS.
Aside from a rushed ending that neither supported nor added to the previously strong plot, BOSS was an enjoyable read. Ezra and Joshua are likeable in their own unique ways and truly complex, which made them feel a great deal more realistic than most characters. BOSS is definitely one to check out.
