2⭐️/2.5🌶
well...to say i was really looking forward to this book would be an understatement. I've seen tons of quotes on my FYP from this series and its had me in a chokehold for MONTHS.
so when this ended up not hitting for me I was really disappointed.
so first and foremost, it's insta-lust, which is fine a mere yellow flag, i can deal with it if there was something redeemable in this story but idkkkk... nikolai was hot and a major possessive alpha male? i guess that's a redeemable quality but other than that i was just really frustrated by the end of the book.
Justine is a first-year law intern at this prestigious law firm working under a well-known defense attorney, Mr. Fletcher. She is said to be very beautiful and has her assets, which is said to have essentially gotten her the job because Fletcher wants to use that to his advantage and is also wants to get into her pants. Now, she also wants to get into his pants, but you know being the professional she is, she never acted on it. Not sure how i feel about the fact that she only is in her position because of her looks and she doesn't seemed bothered by that at all? hmmm... Her firm gets assigned this case to defend the mafia prince Nikolai and she ends up getting the lead on it, which I'm not 100% sure how being an attorney works, but i think it's safe to say being a first-year intern would not make you lead on a major case.
Nikolai Popov is the mafia prince who was arrested for assault and after being accurately identified, Justine and her firm are brought on to defend him. They make eye contact and BAM they are immediately infatuated with each other...I'm sorry but this is just not believable to me. So while Justine should be remaining professional, she is thinking of getting into his pants but is constantly in her head saying she should be more professional, which we all know isn't gonna happen. Now listen, Nikolai has such a dirty mouth i would also have a hard time concentrating, but everyone is just witnessing the things he says to her, i would imagine someone saying something, but no.
Now moving on, Nikolai either has to spend the holiday weekend in jail or on house arrest until the courts re-open. now with the chaos that ensues, he is granted house arrest because he won't be staying at his house or any of those associated with him. do you know where he is staying though?? JUSTINE'S HOUSE. BECAUSE SHE ACCIDENTALLY PUT HER ADDRESS ON LEGAL DOCUMENTS. WHAT??? HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN? And he does, which then leads to obvious sexual tension, but since it was insta-lust i really didn't feel any connection besides the physical, which is fine just doesn't do it for me.
The pacing was also lost on me. i was not keeping up with it and was lost to which day it was (it only took place over three days i believe).
Justine was just so bothersome. She did not act like the lawyer she "tried so hard to be" (i give air quotes because there really was not a solid time where she tried to be professional). She also was said to speak Italian in the very beginning but no other language but then on page 136 she could understand russian when there was no previous knowledge of her being able to understand the language (unless i missed that somewhere) then on page 190 she all of sudden speaks 13 languages, Russian included. i feel that should have been mentioned way before it did.
this is the first book of the series so it leaves off on somewhat of a cliffhanger but i think it could have continued to add more substance because not much really happened in the book.
idk i was just left really frustrated.