Monday, February 13, 2017

REVIEW: PARK AVENUE PRINCE by Louise Bay

PARK AVENUE PRINCE by Louise Bay
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SYNOPSIS
THE PRINCE OF PARK AVENUE FINALLY MEETS HIS MATCH IN A FEISTY MANHATTAN PRINCESS.
I’ve made every one of my billions of dollars myself—I’m calculating, astute and the best at what I do. It takes drive and dedication to build what I have. And it leaves no time for love or girlfriends or relationships. 
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not a monk. 
I understand the attention and focus it takes to seduce a beautiful woman. They’re the same skills I use to close business deals. But one night is where it begins and ends. I’m not the guy who sends flowers. I’m not the guy who calls the next day.
Or so I thought before an impatient, smart-talking, beyond beautiful heiress bursts into my world.
When Grace Astor rolls her eyes at me—I want to hold her against me and show her what she’s been missing.
When she makes a joke at my expense—I want to silence her sassy mouth with my tongue.
And when she leaves straight after we f*ck with barely a goodbye—it makes me want to pin her down and remind her of the three orgasms she just had.
She might be a princess but I’m going to show her who rules in this Park Avenue bedroom.
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REVIEW
Sam Shaw has lived a life of limited means, thanks to his heartbreaking past. At the age of twelve, he became an orphan and had no living relatives. He knows true loss and because of that, he has shut off his ability to love anyone, for fear of losing them. He has only one true friend, Angie, whom he met at his new school after being placed in the boys’ home. “She was in a girls’ home nearby and must have recognized a fellow orphan. We’d been best friends ever since.” But even Angie was kept at a safe distance. “Growing up as I did had forced me to detach from others. To not care about holes in my soul that would never be filled. I’d taught myself to tune into people—to read them, but not comfort or protect.” –Sam. For many years he had nothing, so he was determined to acquire a successful career in Manhattan and buy stable investments to make him financial set for life. In his experience, he’s learned that one has to be careful what they reveal to others, so he remained aloof and observant. Even though he wasn’t truly one of the “Manhattan elite”, he knew how to play their games. He used his observational knowledge to make himself powerful and became someone that belonged among them, a “Park Avenue Prince”. Now, a proud owner of an apartment on Park Avenue, he’s been advised by his art director to invest in fine arts. His advisor, Nina, has him attending an exhibition at GRACE ASTORS FINE ARTS. But shortly after arriving, he finds himself more intrigued by the strong and feisty owner, Grace Astor. He studies her as if SHE is the paintings. He gets an overall impression, but looking more closely he’s determined to look deeper. He wants to look over those walls she so obviously has. So he pursues her. But after spending time with her, he learns real fast it’s impossible to stay completely detached from her. She’s working her way into his life and heart unexpectedly and that scares him immensely. He knows he can’t truly let her in because in his experience, that never ends well.

Grace Astor is hosting her debut exhibition in her fine arts gallery tonight and it needs to be successful because she’s literally put everything into the success of her gallery and it has cost her plenty. The biggest issue was the artist she is featuring on her first exhibition is that he is her ex-boyfriend, whom she single-handedly caught cheating on her four weeks ago, with her assistant, in her office. This unfortunately wasn’t the first time she’d been disappointed by a boyfriend. Her upbringing as a “Park Avenue Princess” has her slightly jaded towards men in that world, so she swung in the complete opposite direction when it came to potential boyfriends. She became a “fixer”. She found up and coming artists, musicians, writers and helped nurture their careers. The only problem with that is, all those men are too focused on building their career that they don’t truly care about her and just end up leaving her behind once they get a sniff of success. Now, on her gallery debut evening, she has to have that thrown her face…she has to spend the evening telling everyone how special her ex’s work is and try to make him an instant success because that’ll help her gallery out. It doesn’t help that a “spoiled and indulged” Wall Street man named, Sam Shaw, comes into her gallery and makes her intrigued about all the things she’s been trying to avoid her whole life. “He was everything I shouldn’t want—everything I’d spent my life rejecting…” –Grace. She tried to avoid him after he left the gallery, but his unrelenting pursuit leads to an unexpected job that. “I’d like you to be my advisor.” –Sam. Grace knows this is bad idea, her body and mind are at battle. She doubts she’ll be able to resist this pull she has toward him for long if they actually worked together. But his pursuit was intoxicating and she finds herself caving to it. “I wanted to find out what it was like to be pursued. To be under a man as big, as confident, as in control as Sam Shaw.” –Grace.

What will happen when two different worlds collide? Sam and Grace may appear to outsiders as if they are both from the same upbringing, but that is very much not true. “Could people from contrasting backgrounds really like each other?” –Sam. Can Sam finally let someone in and let go of his fear of loss? Is he willing to find his ultimate bliss?
“Had she been what I waiting for? Was she my ultimate bliss?” –Sam.
This is my first Louise Bay novel and I couldn’t have been happier with it! I LOVED every minute of Sam and Grace’s story and was left with a goofy grin at the end. They were both broken characters, but in their own unique ways. They had VERY different upbringings, but those trials and experiences brought them together in a seamless way. Sam’s upbringing shaped him into the man he is now: guarded, determined, strong, controlling. Grace’s childhood and adult experiences shaped her into the woman she is now: independent, passionate, feisty, broken but not defeated. They both had set boundaries and it was extremely fascinating to read about those boundaries being tested. “I’m not going to make it that easy for you, Grace Astor. If you want to push my boundaries, I get to peer over your Park Avenue Princess walls, too.” –Sam.  And man, did they ever push each other! I absolutely LOVED Sam’s bluntness with Grace. He’s not your typical billionaire a**hole, he’s just matter of fact and I find his pursuit and strategy particularly sexy *wink*….Grace had no chance, but to give into his tactics.

This story was about figuring out you can become whoever you want, your past doesn’t dictate your future. It was about letting go and realizing that YES you are deserving of being loved and loving. It was about not living life out of fear. That will only lead to you being alone and lonely. It was about finding love in the most unexpected and unplanned way. Fate will find a way to bring that person into your life, whether you want it or not. And most importantly, it was about “weathering the storm…together”. You can think you have all these plans set up and block out everyone in your life, so you do not lose them, but in the end, you’re not weathering the storm…you’re just sitting in the down pour…alone, with no umbrella. You can face life WITH someone and make it through the storms, together.

Louise had us experiencing right along with the characters their ups and downs. I could sense their pain and happiness while reading and because of that I felt emotionally invested in their story. She had me smiling along with the characters, swooning right along with Grace, and feeling the confusion right along with Sam. And feeling the love grow between the two. From what I understand, this is a spinoff from KING OF WALL STREET (the 2 characters from that book are in this novel), so I plan to read their story next!
“Because,” he said, tilting my chin up for a kiss, “you taught me the most important lesson in the Count’s story. ‘Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales whose fates are guarded by dragons: We must fight in order to conquer it.’He smiled down at me. “I won’t ever stop fighting again.” –Sam.
5+ "waiting & hoping" stars!
xoxo, Vivian 💋

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Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Comedy
Published by Amazon Digital Services LLC on February, 13, 2017

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Add PARK AVENUE PRINCE to Goodreads

***PARK AVENUE PRINCE is a standalone, but it is also a spinoff. Here is the US Amazon link to the first book: KING OF WALL STREET

<<ARC generously provided by author in exchange for honest review>>


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