I have my grievances, but still enjoyed it
I hate to come out the gate immediately comparing this second entry to its predecessor, but I can't help myself. This story was a simply a better one than what book one gave me. The plot was more engaging, realistic, and even a bit more sophisticated. I mean, for the most part. While the story was easy to follow and did well in grabbing and maintaining my interest, that doesn't mean there weren't certain details of it that weren't problematic (at least for me). I could have done without certain clichés that were grossly exaggerated, such as the heroine's damsel in distress status. I expect it in romance stories; it's pretty much a staple. But this was just WAY too much.
Danielle (Dani) isn't just a damsel, but she's like an elite damsel. Literally everything that can go wrong in a woman's life is present and accounted for here, most of them thwarted by Eli's strong arms rescuing her. Raped in high school. Choked by a client. Gets bashed up from a twenty-foot fall (Eli rescue). Gets smacked by the aforementioned client, who then wants to ALSO rape her (Eli rescue). Can't swim and nearly drowns from being jokingly tossed in a pool (Eli rescue). And oh yes, she's also claustrophobic, which pretty much was the only thing that never really threatened her in this entire story (though Eli did "calm" her in the elevator once). I get it in principle. We women do love our knights in shining armor sometimes. But in this case, it was all just a bit much.
I also never quite grasped Madison's true motivations for her actions. She seemed to detest Eli's obsession with money, which is why she hired Dani in the first place to help remove him as CEO. Yet by the end, it became known that Madison is set to profit from his removal after all. Um, what? It's possible she was simply lying to Dani in the first place and always wanted to profit, and yet, why bother putting up a scene in private after she'd manipulated Eli to return home for his sister's memorial? Madison got pissy about Eli and his father talking about money and even got slapped hard in the face for it. There wasn't a single follow-up mention of that event either. No aftermath. No consequences. It's as if it never even happened. Why even bother mentioning that if it had no weight to the rest of the story? Nothing she did made any sense.
Anyway, though it must seem like I'm extra grumbly, I was still intrigued, curious to know how everything would go down. I enjoyed getting to more know Eli and Dani. Fortunately, both characters were mostly likable whether apart or together, and their relationship was an entertaining one to read. I loved Dani's tenacity and her unwillingness to corrupt her integrity. It was also nice for Eli's money to never be utilized for Dani's benefit at ALL, a plot point I've come to expect in soooo many romances. Not this time. We finally FINALLY have a rich man whose wealth wasn't flaunted as if it was its own character, as if it too was just as much rescuing the heroine almost as much as the hero. It was an appealing trait for Dani. Sex scenes were similar to book one in that they were sparse (ish), but long-winded in their moments, which was kinda irritating, but....eh. Nothing I couldn't deal with.
I really like what I'm seeing from this author, though, in both this book and its predecessor. I'm seeing someone who wants to at least carefully craft a tangible story so that her characters don't feel like cheap, horny throwaways, and that's something I've come to appreciate in this genre. I look forward to book three.