Há feridas que o tempo não cura. Há paixões que o tempo não apaga.
Grant Lasker foi o primeiro amor de Aspen. O primeiro homem a fazê-la acreditar que tinha encontrado o seu lugar. Com ele, entregou o coração sem reservas e sonhou com um futuro que parecia perfeito.
Até descobrir que tudo podia não passar de uma aposta.
Convencida de que tinha sido enganada pelo homem que mais amava, Aspen abandonou Grant sem olhar para trás. Catorze anos depois, construiu uma nova vida e faria tudo para proteger a família que lhe resta. Mas, quando aceita um emprego capaz de garantir ao avô os cuidados de que ele necessita, vê-se obrigada a enfrentar o passado da forma mais inesperada.
Porque o seu novo chefe é Grant Lasker. Mais poderoso, mais arrogante e mais irresistível do que nunca.
Grant acredita que foi Aspen quem o traiu. E, agora que o destino os voltou a colocar frente a frente, parece determinado a fazê-la pagar por isso. Entre ressentimentos antigos, segredos por desvendar e uma atração impossível de ignorar, os dois são arrastados para um jogo perigoso onde cada olhar reacende memórias que o tempo nunca conseguiu apagar.
Algumas feridas nunca saram. E alguns amores nunca são verdadeiramente esquecidos.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nadia Lee writes billionaire romances about women who refuse to settle for crumbs—and the powerful men who fall hard and chase harder.
A lifelong lover of great food, travel and adventure, Nadia has lived in five different countries, kissed stingrays, been bitten by a shark and cuddled with tigers. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading books by her favorite authors or planning another trip.
To learn more about Nadia and her projects, please visit www.nadialee.net. To receive news about Nadia’s upcoming releases, sales and promotions, giveaways, exclusive epilogues, bonus scenes and more, join her VIP List at www.nadialee.net/vip!
Normally when I DNF I don't rate a book, but the hero is so awful, OTT petty and even physically abusive I just can't stand it. He makes all those vengeful Mediterranean H's look tame and sane.
I've read these books all out of order, and the H doesn't come across that great in My Grumpy Billionaire, but he's worse and whinier in this one. He's a self entitled jerk when they meet in college and he's grown exponentially worse after their great big misunderstanding. I mean just grow up.
Revised from a 1 star. It's a rage inducer for sure though, but well done.
P.S. Did a re-read and, yep, for some reason he did not improve, still horrible.
I did want to say that this gives off big Maya Alden vibes with such a horrible, vindictive hero. So if you like a little emotional torture with your heroes, give it a try.
Oof, I really didn’t like this book! I feel it needs lot of editing down and it was very repetitive.
The first half of the book is in the past when both MCs are in college. We get their whole backstory of how they got together and subsequently broke up. There was so much extra information that had no bearing on the story.
The other half is 14 years later when the MCs meet again and hate each other. It’s basically all just one big miscommunication as to why they broke up and hate each other and it was so stupid.
There were backstories for characters that held no bearing to the story (do I really need to read a whole paragraph about the concierge at the nursing home? Or Aspens neighbor?)
They acted like they had this beautiful love affair that was ruined when in reality they dated in college for like 2 weeks. Neither character seemed to change from college to 30s- I didnt feel any connection to either character.
I read the word Maserati at least 200x. There was a lot of time blown setting up the next book between another brother and the bakery lady.
This is the first I’m reading from this author and it will probably be the last. Sorry! 🙈
This. Is. The. Best. Nadia. Lee. Book. Ever! And that is saying something since she is an incredible writer. This is Grant and Aspen story and what an amazing story it is! I am having a hard time writing this right now because I am suffering from book-hangover. The first 2 Lasker stories were great..this one is better. I felt every emotion, I laughed, cried, got mad and then was utterly satisfied at the end. Please read this book..you will be so happy you did!
A really liked this one. I'm a huge fan of second chance romance. The book starts with them in college, they get together and then they get separated. The breakup is due to others meddling then circumstances and youth, not sorting things out.
Then we catch up with them 14 years later. Warning - Heroine has had an awful time and the Hero is really unkind and cruel to her when they reconnect.
Spoiler. Both have been involved with others in the time apart. No details for the heroine, a mention of Hero's previous.
The heroine gave him her v card, the others revealed the Hero was involved in a bet to take her v card, its not as simple as they make out, he opted out but it is room mates with so they include him, against his wishes. There is history of bets between them. At the same time the heroine gets bad news about her grandmother. As he thinks he only used her she doesn't tell the Hero.
The Hero realises she's left campus and at the same time recieves a call from his family's assistant that the heroine is a gold digger who is selling all the things he bought her. She is actually selling them to pay for her grandmother's medical bills.
They reconnect and he feels used and has become bitter. She is under extreme stress, caring for her grandfather who has memory issues, he's in a care home which she's working to pay for.
No intimate details other than the Hero and heroine. The meddlers at the college get to pay gor being involved in the separation.
HEA. Breadcrumbs dropped for future books in series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This the third book I’ve read by this author. I recognize not every story will be a hit, however, I’m on the fence about her work.
I love enemies to lovers and second chance stories. This book is both and yet it completely missed the mark for me. This is a series about the Lasker brothers. Seems their dad had a vasectomy that didn’t take and fathered 7 boys with 7 different women, that were all born within months of each other. That’s just nasty.
Note to self, scan reviews for books that have been in my queue a while before starting.
Grant & Aspen are the typical opposites attract, rich boy/poor girl couple. Grant was unlikeable for me. He is an arse to her and almost everyone. His parents mostly ignore him and leave him on his own. Aspen was orphaned as a toddler and subsequently raised by her very loving grandparents. Her grandpa describes her as a prickly pear on the outside with a marshmallow interior. Not the most flattering description.
The book is divided into two parts, their past college romance and flash forward to present day, 14 years later. Their relationship is built on half truths, with major flaws in how they communicate. Keeping secrets from someone you claim you are falling in love with always leads to disaster.
Their campus love story is cut short when Aspen learns Grant’s secret, is then humiliated on campus and flees without word or explanation. He jumps to his own, very wrong conclusions and vows to never open his heart again.
Part 2, 14 years later, Aspen hasn’t fared much better. She is still somewhat destitute and struggling to manage her life. Grant, on the other hand, is a highly successful business owner, who is still an arse. She is hired as his new assistant and Grant vows to break her as payback for her past transgressions which leads to more misunderstandings and miscommunication… yada, yada, yada… until they come to their senses.
I should have stopped myself from continuing after their “reunion”. Aspen’s inner dialogue hinted at another reason for her not returning to campus to finish her degree. I had a theory and wanted to see if I was right…. I wasn’t. Actually that thread was left hanging and completely forgotten about. And the fact she just gave up on her education and abandoned all effort to finish, declining to transfer to a school closer to her grandparents made zero sense. I didn’t feel any great chemistry or love between them, he was too arrogant for me to root for, period.
Aspen’s relationship with her grandparents is what grabbed me the most and brought me to tears and the sole reason I changed my rating to 2.5 stars.
Aspen’s grandparents have always been there for her and she wants to be there for them and knows that college is the best way for that to happen. While there she meets Grant and thinks what they have is special only to believe that she was nothing more than a bet he was determined to win.
Grant comes from an affluent lifestyle and finds himself in college because it was expected of him. He has a different recollection of what happened between he and Aspen so years later when Aspen becomes his new employee the battle is on.
Grant is determined to make things as difficult as possible for Aspen however she has never backed down from anyone and isn’t about to start now. Their journey back to each other is filled with humor and turmoil but it was well worth the ride.
I LOVED this book. I kept checking what page I was on bc I didn’t want it to end. The book takes place in two parts, the past (college) and the present (12 years after graduation), and tells the epic (and unputdownable) love story of Grant, the alpha millionaire, and Aspen, the hardworking, working-class, granddaughter. If you like first loves, second-chance romances,opposites attract, and enemies-to-lovers, put on your swooning boots bc this book has all the feels!
SO MAD😡 First, I LOVE drama and miscommunication like this is my thing. However … 1. The tattoos? 🙄🙄 Stupid 2. She accepts clothes again after being so ‘tough’ and then 💥 in his office the next day??? Uh, what? 3. Not Aspen or Grant ever bring up Kat? Especially when Grant was looking for her, he never thought, hmmm - maybe she’s at her Grandma’s house? 4. Zack just faded away after being talked about so much 5. And what really irritated me was this big lead up and secret as to why she really didn’t go back to college……. AND THE AUTHOR NEVER TELLS YOU!!!’ What??? So many lead ups, even by her Grandfather to make you think so many different things: pregnancy? Illness? Scholarships pulled? But NOTHING! It’s forgotten about! 🤬
I started this book because I watched a K Drama with a similar plot and this book was almost just as good!
Basically the main characters sleep with each other and then meet again in the future with the main guy (Grant) as the girl’s (Aspen) boss. Aspen and Grant were in college and I found this part of the story really sweet and it describes how they met and the author did a great job with character development and background. This part also had lots of good tropes including enemies to lovers (good angst but wanted more), girl falls first-guy falls harder, one bed trope…I didn’t expect this part to take up almost half of the book, but it actually worked out well and it was my favorite part! The main couple fell in love but at the end of part 1 they of course have a falling out which would then lead to part 2.
Okay so here are the problems with part 2…
1.) IT’S FOURTEEN YEARS LATER!! the characters were 20 in part 1 but whyyy so long after part 1? I don’t get it? I would understand 5 years but 14 is too long.
2.) Aspen was described as a hard working girl who works in college and studies hard for her grades with a passion in economics and a goal to be some form of a financial broker. So please tell me why is this girl almost in her mid thirties and working as a waitress? I’m so confused!! And then an employee from Grant’s company comes in one day and recommends her applying for an assistant position? I understand if this was 5 years later after part 1 and you know life happens so I get it if she had to put college on hold BUT IT HAS BEEN FOURTEEN YEARS. I was really disappointed about that lack of character growth and it almost made me stop reading the book but I had to understand why she waited so long to start her career. When it was revealed that she had dropped out because of her grandma’s death along with her heart break from Grant, I understand with her wanting to take a semester off but it seemed out of character of her to never go back to school.
3.) in Part 2 99% of Aspen’s and Grant’s problems revolve around the fact that they choose not to communication and be honest. Part 2 starts with them hating each other and it takes a very long time for them to admit how they hurt each other in the past. I felt it dragged on for way too long.
Overall, this was a good book. I didn’t expect it to be so emotional in part 2, but I felt part 2 was very sad and sweet at the very end. I like how part 2 felt realistic in the way that unexpected things happen in life that are out of your control and it made the characters feel more real and relatable. This is a bittersweet story and it’s not the romance comedy that I was expecting from the summery that I read but I still overall enjoyed this read.
EILTH by Nadia Lee is the third stand-alone in the Lasker Brothers Series. The previous books are Baby for the Bosshole and My Grumpy Billionaire. For best reading experience I recommend to read the books in order. This is Aspen and Grant's second-chances-story. Aspen was raised by her loving grandparents and Grant is part of a big family. He and his six siblings are rich famous, prodigees. Both meet at college and they fall rather quickly for each other. But it doesn't go that well and,,, fast forward, 14 years later, Aspen has a new boss, Grant a new pa and surprise, there's their second not so meet cute. She needs the job for reasons, he wants her quit - lean back and enjoy. This book should come witha warning - Unputdownable once started reading, literally. The story and the characters took me with them on a wild ride, they gave me all the feels, had me teary eyed, wanted to shake the H, my heart was hurting for the h. And now I'm sitting here with a bookhangover and I know the next thing I'll do is read the first and second book in this fantastic series.
Loved, loved, this book! My favorite in the series. The hate to love. The love to hate. The misunderstandings... the time apart... the meeting again. I wished this book wouldn't end.
**Misunderstandings **Opposites **Struggling girl vs. Rich guy **College setting... Work force
I enjoyed this book so much I finished it in a day. I love a good second chance romance and I have been seeing this book all over the place lately so i was so excited to read it. I loved the characters and the plot. I gave it 4 starts because it was way to long and it could’ve been shorter. The author dragged out the time it took for Grant and Aspen to just have an honest conversation about all the misunderstanding that had led to their breakup.
Although the book is about Grant and Aspen, all the boys make an appearance.
This story gives us a peek into the life of the boys BEFORE they were The Laskers. The majority of the book takes place in the past and tells the beginnings of Grant and Aspen's story. I really enjoyed getting to know them before the cynicism and well life, took over. When everything was fresh and new. That sat with me once the book caught up to current day and their story continued.
It's a book of second chances and first loves reuniting. I was up until 3AM, two nights in a row reading this story. I was hooked.
Of course, you cannot have a Lasker book without an appearance from dear old Dad and WOWZER did he outdo himself in this book. Nadia is a genius writing this character.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book.
While I understand this uses the miscommunication trope (it's a trope, right?) as a foundation for the story, I can't help but feel like Grant was an absolute bully. Aspen was literally a victim of mobbing (bullying at work). I don't care how much of a bitch you think someone is, there is no excuse to make her run at 4am as punishment (for what she did 14 years ago!) and make her work 80 hours a week just to force her to quit.
At first, the running was kind of funny, but after a while, considering he consistently did stuff to her, it became too much. And then after 14 years of misunderstanding, of him being the most unfair d*ck to Aspen, he grovels for two chapters and she forgives him.
I'm sorry?? You're trying to convince me a woman deals with a trauma for 14 years (FOURTEEN YEARS!!!!!), gets depressed after losing her grandmother, is in a dire financial situation due to her grandpa's illness, gets bullied for weeks by the ex-boyfriend who traumatised her and then forgives him in two chapters?? I get it: he didn't really want to traumatise her, she misunderstood it all, so did he, but she lived 14 years believing otherwise! You don't forget that in two chapters!
I'm so confused. I had a good enough time reading this book, even though I think she forgave him to quickly but whatever. But the whole time I was waiting for her to tell him that she was pregnant when they were younger and had a miscarriage or gave the baby up for adoption. I though there were hints that something like that happened, because she said at one point that three bad things happend and I still don't know what the third one was and she made a comment about not every pregnancy and birth were troubled or something like that. I really thought it would lead back to her and something that happened and he didn't know about it. Maybe I just read to much into it or maybe I read until 2 AM and my brain's just tred who knows? Anyways, I had fun. The ending was kinda boring, but I guess you can't have everything...
Uhhh what the hell i was promised grovelling . Instead what I got was perhaps 40+ chapters of the piece of shit man doing the most awful thing to the female mc.... she deserves better and he deserved 40+ chapters of his own grovelling and suffering. maaaaaaann this was super disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Adorei este livro, um romance cheio de emoção, química, mágoas por resolver e personagens que nunca deixaram verdadeiramente de se amar. Aspen e Grant viveram um amor intenso na universidade, mas um acontecimento destruiu completamente a relação entre ambos. Anos mais tarde, quando o destino volta a cruzar os seus caminhos, o passado continua demasiado presente para que consigam seguir em frente. Entre mágoas, ressentimentos e sentimentos que nunca desapareceram, eles terão de decidir se conseguem finalmente enfrentar a verdade. Gostei da forma como a autora construiu a história, com a divisão entre o passado e o presente que nos permite compreender tudo o que aconteceu entre os dois. Também gostei do duplo ponto de vista. Ter acesso aos pensamentos de Aspen e Grant faz-nos perceber que ambos sofreram mais do que deixam transparecer. Grant surpreendeu-me pela sua vulnerabilidade e pelo peso da culpa que carregou durante tantos anos. Aspen, conquistou-me pela sua força, dedicação aos avós e forma como colocou sempre os outros à frente de si. A química entre eles continua tão intensa como no passado e sente-se em cada reencontro. A tensão, os olhares, as emoções mal resolvidas e o desejo de recuperar o tempo perdido tornam a leitura extremamente envolvente. A autora conseguiu equilibrar muito bem os momentos românticos com temas mais sensíveis, como o luto, o arrependimento, o peso das escolhas e a importância de encontrar força para seguir em frente. Uma história sobre perdão aos outros e a nós próprios. Mostra-nos que todos cometemos erros, que nem sempre conhecemos toda a verdade e que, por vezes, passamos demasiado tempo presos ao passado quando tudo o que precisávamos era de coragem para ouvir o outro lado da história. Uma leitura emocionante, com personagens imperfeitas, humanas e muito fáceis de compreender. Sofri com eles, sorri com eles e, acima de tudo, torci para que encontrassem o final feliz que ambos mereciam.
A trope da má comunicação, normalmente não funciona comigo….desta vez lá funcionou. Foi super clichê, super resolvido demasiado rápido e diverti-me a ler.
Por vezes preciso de ler livros mais leves e está tudo bem com isso. Nesta história conhecemos a Aspen e o Grant, na primeira fase quando se conhecem na universidade e na segunda, passados 14 anos.
Passei o livro todo a pensar, todo o conflito entre eles se iria resolver com uma conversa, e não é que quando falam a coisa se resolve 💕 As últimas 50 páginas foram sofridas, bastante emocionantes e quase veio a lágrima ao olho. A cena da Aspen e do Grant na grade da varanda, ficará para sempre registada como uma das mais bonitas que li. Foi sofrida, mas foi linda!
Cara vez gosto mais dos livros da Nadia Lee, estou ansiosa para ler o próximo, ainda temos 3 irmãos para conhecer!
This could have been a great second chance romance except the guy was a massive assh*le up until the last 40 pages or so and that is why I cannot in good conscience give more than a 2.5 rating to this book.
There was literally no groveling whatsoever, he just had his realization and said sorry a couple of times and she forgave him after 1 speech? Hellll no!! Not in this house.
Tiktok always tricks me. I actually read this book cause... I got caught in the plot. I mean, the university part was boring asf. But when you start reading the 14 years after it kinds of makes you want to keep reading. Still, the ending its pretty bad. Cause he's just a douchebag. I almost cry, cause she's so alone, and her whole life has been shit, that 14th years of pain. And suddenly she forgives him? Just cause he's cute and her sexy boss. I mean, don't get me wrong, we all want a sexy boss, but DEFENETIVELY NOT when he's the reason why you don't finish college and took your V-card in a bet. I would never forgive him, but she starts the first day of work. I can't. This book it's too messy, very sad, and the characters are so messed up. I just can't.
The story has zero development, I mean, the characters are so basic, even when 14 years passed by. They can't communicate like normal people. He's too lucky, and she's too unlucky.
Even the bet and everything it's bad plotted, cause the friends told her without reason. And she never speak about it whit him¿? ¿?
It's a no from me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was the worst! Grant was awful. The whole time I was wondering how he could come back from all the crap he did to her and he didn't. He did nothing to get her back except take advantage of her while she was drunk and grieving. I wanted her to walk away from him, go to therapy, and take up with Zack. Grant's brothers were all douchebags too.