Title: Takeover
Author: Anna Zabo
Genre: Contemporary/BDSM
Length: Novel (198 pages)
Publisher: InterMix (August 19th 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate to Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4.5Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: An exciting new voice in romance proves that giving in can be the best way to let go…
Michael Sebastian thought Curacao would be the perfect place to have a little fun in the sun—and between the sheets. So far, no one has struck his interest, until Sam Anderson walks into the bar. With one look at his tense body and expensive suit, Michael knows that this is a man in need of release. And Michael is more than willing to lend a hand.
Shattered by the most intense sex he’s ever had, Sam has to face the facts—one night with a handsome, dominating stranger is all he gets before returning to the closet he’s been suffocating in for years. But when Sam starts his new job as the CEO of a failing technology company, he discovers that Michael is one of his new employees.
While Michael is desperate for another night with Sam, he knows he shouldn’t get involved with his boss, let alone another man who can’t accept who he is. But as they’re forced to work together to save the company, the desire sparking between them becomes impossible to ignore…
Purchase Link: http://www.penguin.com/book/takeover-by-anna-zabo/9780698182134
Review: Sam Anderson just got a new job as interim CEO for a Company he means to save from financial ruin, which he’s quite good at, and to celebrate he’s off to Curacao for a break. Sam wants to go somewhere to relax, somewhere away from prying eyes where he can be himself. It doesn’t take long for him to catch the eye of someone, someone who can tell how high-strung Sam is, and someone who can take control of Sam.
Michael Sebastian has been in Curacao on vacation for a week and yet to find anyone that caught his eye. That is until the sexy suit with the silver cufflinks stumbles into the bar. The man is wound tighter than a drum, and Michael is more than willing to help him release some tension. Imagine his surprise when the man is ready, willing and able to submit to Michael in every way. The attraction is intense and the sex is mind-blowing, but both realize it can only be the one time. No names, no titles, no strings.
S. Randal Anderson and Mike Sebastian only know of each other on paper, or so they think. The shock to both men would be apparent to anyone paying attention the first time Anderson meets with all the employee’s. No names, no titles, no strings just went right out the window. Sam and Michael are forced to work together in order to save the company that Michael built from the ground up with his two best friends. To say the tension is thick would be an understatement of gargantuan proportion! As hard as they try to stay professional, they are only human, and it’s not often that a Dominate finds not only the perfect Submissive, but also the perfect man for him.
The push and pull is unnerving at times. They don’t want to jeopardize the buyout or their jobs, but they can’t deny the way they make each other feel. Sam is not out at work, hence the reason he had to hide to find Michael in the first place. And Michael has a troubled past with a partner that was closeted, so he refuses to go there again. But these two men are seriously like magnets, they can’t not hover, sway toward each other. Once the company looks to be secure in a buyout the cost just might be clear for them to endeavour a relationship. Sadly, there is an underlying threat that neither man anticipated that wants to destroy not only their relationship, but their business as well.
Okay, there was a lot of story in this story. And what I mean by that is the business jargon and explanation of what the company is, what it does, how Sam is trying to save it. At times, that was a little tedious, but other than that, this book was a delightful treat. The BDSM aspect was explained in such a way that it wasn’t rude, violent or a turn off. I actually was enthralled with the Dominate and Submissive traits and how I perceived that each man became that way. And let me tell you, this book hits the ground running with Michael pounding Sam into submission in the first chapter!
And even though the attraction to each other was immediate and intense, this wasn’t an insta-love story. The relationship, the trust and the communication was built over time, with a few roadblocks along the journey. Sam is very much in charge when he has his suit on, but Michael is the dominate in the relationship. They have to navigate that and figure out how that works on both sides before they can commit. There’s a part in the story where Sam takes too much at once, in the bedroom, and even though his mind and his feelings are saying give me more, Michael knows that his body can’t take anymore right then. It was fascinating seeing the story through their eyes, seeing this different side to the BDSM explained this way. It was at the heart of what made this story different and appealing to me.
I’m babbling, I’ll stop, go grab this book! Seriously, it is a BDSM story at the heart of it, but it’s not abusive I promise. It’s just really, really sexy as hell!