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Peyton Riley
Not to get Liam Neeson on your asses, but the fact is that Peyton Riley has a very specific skill set. She's good at her job and has just gotten off a major project when she crosses paths with the gorgeous snake-in-the-grass calling himself Carson Varis. He's taken her against her will, but to where, and to what end? She's got days to figure this out and escape–before her boss finds out where his favorite specialist has disappeared.
Carson Varis has got an eye for art and a mania for professionalism. No one does work-life balance like he does. But a certain fiery redhead has gotten his goals in a twist. He has his employer's order to fulfill, but can't get the memory of her body (and her hair, and her deep blue eyes, and oh, that mouth) out of the way. Can he get it together and pull off a job well done?
Carson Varis has got an eye for art and a mania for professionalism. No one does work-life balance like he does. But a certain fiery redhead has gotten his goals in a twist. He has his employer's order to fulfill, but can't get the memory of her body (and her hair, and her deep blue eyes, and oh, that mouth) out of the way. Can he get it together and pull off a job well done?
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2015
14 people want to read
About the author
Bianca Mori
14 books34 followersBianca Mori writes contemporary romances, romantic suspense and crime fiction set in the Philippines, Europe, the United States and all points in between. Her steamy stories have been called “fast-paced and super-hot,” “engaging,” “vivid” and “engrossing.” She lives in Manila with her family and a hyperactive pug. Find Bianca on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as thebiancamori or at her website (www.biancamori.com).
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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February 14, 2019The plot thickens in part 2 (this is a three part story with cliffhangers, don't muck about). We find out what Peyton is (a takedown artist who basically stops things happening via underhand means). She's being forced to stop an art sale for mysterious-so-far reasons but everything goes scary wrong with the job even as the romance develops with Carson. Compelling heist/thriller/romance and I am fascinated to find out how it all turns out.
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March 27, 2022Still loving it...Will write a full review after the final book.
February 22, 2018
Rating: 3.5
I think the head hopping in this one was a bit confusing. There were no clear breaks between switched POVs so I was a bit confused at times as to who 's head we were in. so took a bit while reading to shake off that confusion. But we get to know more about Peyton here which was definitely intriguing. The job she does, the thing that happened that plague her nightmares on the island in book 1.
Will be moving onto book 3 to see how it all wraps up! :)
I think the head hopping in this one was a bit confusing. There were no clear breaks between switched POVs so I was a bit confused at times as to who 's head we were in. so took a bit while reading to shake off that confusion. But we get to know more about Peyton here which was definitely intriguing. The job she does, the thing that happened that plague her nightmares on the island in book 1.
Will be moving onto book 3 to see how it all wraps up! :)
September 13, 2015
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.*
Reading this one was like I was watching another Taken movie. It’s beautifully action-packed to the point where I felt nervous about Peyton and Carson being caught because they had to do a takedown job together. And just when I thought everything’s going to be fine already, aahhhh! There went another mindfuck-level kind of twist that I wasn’t really expecting! It’s fast-paced, suspenseful and had me at the edge of my bed the whole time. Bianca’s writing helped a lot to keep me captivated with this book. It’s like she has multiple switches where she can be a contemporary writer one minute, and turn into a classical the next. It’s amazing! I love it!
Reading this one was like I was watching another Taken movie. It’s beautifully action-packed to the point where I felt nervous about Peyton and Carson being caught because they had to do a takedown job together. And just when I thought everything’s going to be fine already, aahhhh! There went another mindfuck-level kind of twist that I wasn’t really expecting! It’s fast-paced, suspenseful and had me at the edge of my bed the whole time. Bianca’s writing helped a lot to keep me captivated with this book. It’s like she has multiple switches where she can be a contemporary writer one minute, and turn into a classical the next. It’s amazing! I love it!
May 29, 2016
If In to Deep was summer fling, sexy trysts and gorgeous island, Peyton Riley is full on bad-assery. At each turn of the page, I was just enthralled by how Mori was able to do this. How she even began conceptualizing the flawed characters, and the plot twists and turns. How she was able to layout the setting so richly and beautifully. I assume it was painstaking work, and that translated to an effortless albeit intense reading experience. This one ends with another cliffhanger, and like with ITD I'm just glad I started this series when it's last book was already published.
September 10, 2015
I received an ARC eBook in exchange for an honest review. Wow! This mystery and intrigue of this series is mind blowing! When you think you have it figured out... Wham! Another plot twist! I loved Peyton and Carson's story! Thrust together in a takedown assignment and yet there is still this undeniable smoldering chemistry between them! Another cliffhanger ending that you won't see coming! I can't wait for Book 3! I highly recommend this series!!!
May 22, 2017
"These books are a great combination of sexy and fun, but lack just a small bit of more—more action, a more compelling romance—to fully have my love. However, give In Too Deep and Peyton Riley if you’re looking for a quick fix of suspense and sexy." Continue reading our review here.
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Please note: We don't use ratings but for this purpose, we tag books with three stars by default.
Would like to be a reviewer/contributor to Bookbed? Sign up here!
We also accept review requests. More info here.
March 25, 2019
Netherlands! Belgium! This trilogy moves, moves, moves, and I like it. She takes shortcuts that are usually off-limits in fiction, and they work, given how strong the characters are. (Minus the head-hopping, but I don’t even care, because SPIES IN BELGIUM.)
I’m a little bit mad I sat through Red Sparrow to get some spy stuff, when this is way more interesting and entertaining, and done in a fraction of the time.
I’m a little bit mad I sat through Red Sparrow to get some spy stuff, when this is way more interesting and entertaining, and done in a fraction of the time.
December 14, 2019
Spies! If the middle part is the best part, that’s a good thing.
September 17, 2015
Originally posted on WillReadForFeels.com.
Up until recently, I’d only read literary fiction and romance from local writers, so I’ve been happy to see more and more writers branching out into other genres, or at least offering other types of plots besides straight-up romance. One of these is Bianca Mori, who turned a vacation fling in tropical paradise into something more dangerous with her book In Too Deep, the first in her Takedown series.
Now she’s released the second book, Peyton Riley, and in it, she gives us a better idea of what’s at stake, the true nature of our main characters (to some extent), and their one-of-a-kind skill sets! Better yet, she slowly peels away the onionlike layers of the conspiracy her main characters are embroiled in, and already we can tell the next books are bound to be action-packed.
Even though Peyton Riley picks up where In Too Deep left off (which I shall struggle not to spoil for those who haven’t read the first book), readers will be pleased to know that it more or less can be read as a standalone. I say “more or less” because there are a few references that might be a bit confusing if you haven’t read the first installation in this series, but these are relatively minor and shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the read too much.
I’ll admit that I felt a little disturbed by the character of Peyton Riley once I started to get to know who she was and what she did—something I’d been wondering about since Book 1. Her moral compass is heavily skewed, and there were things she’d done in the past (and talked about so matter-of-factly during the course of this book) that I just plain wasn’t comfortable with.
But then I realized that was the awesomeness of this book. I may not have liked Peyton as a character because of her attitude and values, but I definitely was not left unaffected by her. There were moments when I wanted to rant at her, and I had moments where I wanted to sit her down and give her a concerned talking-to (my friends here in the Philippines would likely say my tita flag was definitely flying). I was turning the pages half because I wanted to her to get clear of the danger that surrounded her and half because I wanted to see her get a much-needed comeuppance. But make no mistake—those pages were turning, and fast!
When I wasn’t reading the book, I found myself turning over the concept of a career in takedowns, which the author explained in a Goodreads Q&A post as having been expired by MMA: “In MMA terms, a takedown is when you literally take your opponent down to the ground, where you can inflict the most damage by trying to submit them or doing a ground-and-pound. In my books, a takedown occurs when you prevent something from happening, like a wedding or a business merger, usually by engineering some sort of downfall or scandal. And that’s what Peyton does for a living.”
I guess they’re kind of like assassinations, except the targets are events, companies, and so on instead of people. Which would make Peyton something like a corporate saboteur. If you’re a fan of the TV show Person of Interest, you’ll understand what I mean when I say she’d be like the anti-Zoe Morgan. And while I had a hard time wrapping my head about how a career in something like that would work in real life, while I was reading it, I found it believable, even cool in a totally immoral way.
I have to add that I criticized the first book rather heavily on language and editing, and while I did note some issues, it was much, much easier for me to shush my inner editor while reading this one. Perhaps it’s because so much was going on that I was focused on the plot, not to mention that Mori spent a lot less time doing the literary equivalent of stopping to smell the roses in this volume, so any issues were less obvious. Either way, I applaud this direction the author has decided to take her writing in (and I hope my comments on the previous book weren’t taken too personally).
I should end this review with a warning because when I got to the last page of the book, I actually let out a growl of frustration. Because it ends in a cliffhanger! And while one part of my brain appreciates that this will guarantee that readers like me will keep an eye out for the next book in the series, the impatient part of me that likes to marathon book series in a single weekend is stomping her feet and pouting because I want to know what happens right now!
Since that’s not possible, I think I’ll spend a few minutes speculating on what I hope to see in the next book: more insight into Roi and why he terrifies Peyton so thoroughly, a glimpse into how Peyton is going to redeem herself as a character as well as get herself out of this increasingly sticky situation without losing whatever is left of her soul, and a crisis for the current love interest, Carson Varis—because I want him to pick a side already!
Up until recently, I’d only read literary fiction and romance from local writers, so I’ve been happy to see more and more writers branching out into other genres, or at least offering other types of plots besides straight-up romance. One of these is Bianca Mori, who turned a vacation fling in tropical paradise into something more dangerous with her book In Too Deep, the first in her Takedown series.
Now she’s released the second book, Peyton Riley, and in it, she gives us a better idea of what’s at stake, the true nature of our main characters (to some extent), and their one-of-a-kind skill sets! Better yet, she slowly peels away the onionlike layers of the conspiracy her main characters are embroiled in, and already we can tell the next books are bound to be action-packed.
Even though Peyton Riley picks up where In Too Deep left off (which I shall struggle not to spoil for those who haven’t read the first book), readers will be pleased to know that it more or less can be read as a standalone. I say “more or less” because there are a few references that might be a bit confusing if you haven’t read the first installation in this series, but these are relatively minor and shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the read too much.
I’ll admit that I felt a little disturbed by the character of Peyton Riley once I started to get to know who she was and what she did—something I’d been wondering about since Book 1. Her moral compass is heavily skewed, and there were things she’d done in the past (and talked about so matter-of-factly during the course of this book) that I just plain wasn’t comfortable with.
But then I realized that was the awesomeness of this book. I may not have liked Peyton as a character because of her attitude and values, but I definitely was not left unaffected by her. There were moments when I wanted to rant at her, and I had moments where I wanted to sit her down and give her a concerned talking-to (my friends here in the Philippines would likely say my tita flag was definitely flying). I was turning the pages half because I wanted to her to get clear of the danger that surrounded her and half because I wanted to see her get a much-needed comeuppance. But make no mistake—those pages were turning, and fast!
When I wasn’t reading the book, I found myself turning over the concept of a career in takedowns, which the author explained in a Goodreads Q&A post as having been expired by MMA: “In MMA terms, a takedown is when you literally take your opponent down to the ground, where you can inflict the most damage by trying to submit them or doing a ground-and-pound. In my books, a takedown occurs when you prevent something from happening, like a wedding or a business merger, usually by engineering some sort of downfall or scandal. And that’s what Peyton does for a living.”
I guess they’re kind of like assassinations, except the targets are events, companies, and so on instead of people. Which would make Peyton something like a corporate saboteur. If you’re a fan of the TV show Person of Interest, you’ll understand what I mean when I say she’d be like the anti-Zoe Morgan. And while I had a hard time wrapping my head about how a career in something like that would work in real life, while I was reading it, I found it believable, even cool in a totally immoral way.
I have to add that I criticized the first book rather heavily on language and editing, and while I did note some issues, it was much, much easier for me to shush my inner editor while reading this one. Perhaps it’s because so much was going on that I was focused on the plot, not to mention that Mori spent a lot less time doing the literary equivalent of stopping to smell the roses in this volume, so any issues were less obvious. Either way, I applaud this direction the author has decided to take her writing in (and I hope my comments on the previous book weren’t taken too personally).
I should end this review with a warning because when I got to the last page of the book, I actually let out a growl of frustration. Because it ends in a cliffhanger! And while one part of my brain appreciates that this will guarantee that readers like me will keep an eye out for the next book in the series, the impatient part of me that likes to marathon book series in a single weekend is stomping her feet and pouting because I want to know what happens right now!
Since that’s not possible, I think I’ll spend a few minutes speculating on what I hope to see in the next book: more insight into Roi and why he terrifies Peyton so thoroughly, a glimpse into how Peyton is going to redeem herself as a character as well as get herself out of this increasingly sticky situation without losing whatever is left of her soul, and a crisis for the current love interest, Carson Varis—because I want him to pick a side already!
April 5, 2017
It was only imperative that I went straight to reading this after
In Too Deep
, and I was pleased to find out that the plot. just. thickens.
WHAT I LIKED about this was the author was able to create more dimensions to the story and its characters, making me more invested in everything that was happening. There is a very good balance between suspense and steam, which you don't get to see in a lot of romantic thrillers. (Most of the time, I get bored by the problem at hand, and focus instead on the heat.)
There is also the bonus of travelling to Amsterdam, which I've never been before. But having read this, I felt like I was roaming around the streets of the infamous red light district and of old, intricately designed buildings.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE about this was that I got scared of (or for, I can't decide) Peyton Riley. In the first book, I really didn't connect with her deeply (in spite of the title!), so I was expecting to do that in this one. Unfortunately, it made it all the more difficult. I couldn't get past the darkness that surrounds her. Maybe I'll try again in the next one?
EXTRA: If you enjoy movies like Taken, or even Inception, this book floats on that same wavelength.
WHAT I LIKED about this was the author was able to create more dimensions to the story and its characters, making me more invested in everything that was happening. There is a very good balance between suspense and steam, which you don't get to see in a lot of romantic thrillers. (Most of the time, I get bored by the problem at hand, and focus instead on the heat.)
There is also the bonus of travelling to Amsterdam, which I've never been before. But having read this, I felt like I was roaming around the streets of the infamous red light district and of old, intricately designed buildings.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE about this was that I got scared of (or for, I can't decide) Peyton Riley. In the first book, I really didn't connect with her deeply (in spite of the title!), so I was expecting to do that in this one. Unfortunately, it made it all the more difficult. I couldn't get past the darkness that surrounds her. Maybe I'll try again in the next one?
EXTRA: If you enjoy movies like Taken, or even Inception, this book floats on that same wavelength.
August 19, 2016
Peyton specializes in takedowns, or to be more precise stop things from happening, be it a wedding or an acquisition deal. Peyton's last Barcelona job cost the life of a woman who turns out to be the sister of Carson's employer. Now, the two of them must join forces to stop the sale of a fictitious art masterpiece. Peyton has the skill set, and Carson has the art know how. Peyton is the brains of the operations. Carson serves as the moral compass.
Reading Peyton Riley asserted what I have long suspected, that I'm actually a fade to black kind of girl. However, I still need the romantic build up that In Too Deep provided, especially if it's a romantic thriller such as this.
Sex wise things between Carson and Peyton are nil but that doesn't mean things aren't heating up. The chemistry between the two is undeniable.
Reading Peyton Riley asserted what I have long suspected, that I'm actually a fade to black kind of girl. However, I still need the romantic build up that In Too Deep provided, especially if it's a romantic thriller such as this.
Sex wise things between Carson and Peyton are nil but that doesn't mean things aren't heating up. The chemistry between the two is undeniable.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews