From USA Today bestselling author Kate Allenton, comes an intriguing series packed with secrets, lies, and passionate romance.They say opposites attract. Gwen Bennett and Maxwell Pierce are about to put that theory to the test. Gwen Bennett is a talented operative who excels at keeping her clients safe.When a thief swindles her grandmother out of her fortune and flees to a private island accessed only by invitation, she’s is determined to find a way, no matter what it takes. Maxwell Pierce is a man with a knack for getting what he wants when he wants it. And today, he wants Gwen.When Maxwell seeks Gwen out for a job he knows she’d rather not take, she wastes no time saying yes. But Maxwell’s not surprised. He has something she wants. And with his sister’s life on the line, he needs Gwen just as much as she needs him.If you enjoy books that keep you on the edge of your seat, Rotten Apple has it all.Reader “Loved the characters.” “A cut above the rest.” “A well-written whodunnit with plenty of plot twists.” “The perfect beginning of a spinoff series.” “I can’t wait to read more!” Read all of Kate Allenton's books!BENNETT DYNASTYRotten Apple (Book 1)Pay Dirt (Book2)Down & Dirty (Book 3)Hard To Hold (Book 4)Sour Layer (Book 5)Train Wreck (Book 6)BENNETT SISTERSIntuition (Book 1)Touch of Fate (Book 2)Mind Play (Book 3)The Reckoning (Book 4)Redemption (Book 5)Chance Encounters (Book 6)Destined Hearts (Book 7)THE OTHER BENNETTSControlled Chaos (Book 1)Finding Chaos (Book 2)Killing Chaos (Book 3)Reclaiming Chaos (Book4)Destined Chaos (Book 5)Haunting Chaos (Book 6)Protecting Chaos (Book 7)THE LOVE FAMILY SERIESSkylar (Book1)Declan (Book 2)Flynn (Book 3)Reed (Book 4)Landon (Book 5)Alexis (Book 6)Gabe (Book 7)Jackson (Book 8)THE PHANTOM PROTECTORSReckless Abandon (Book 1)Betrayal (Book 2)Untamed (Book 3)Guided Loyalty (Book 4)CARRINGTON-HILL INVESTIGATIONSDeception (Book 1)Deadly Desire (Book 2)SOPHIE MASTERSON SERIES/ DIXON SECURITYLifting the Veil (Book 1)Beyond the Veil (Book 2)Veiled Intentions (Book 3)Veiled Threats (Book 4)LINKED INC.Deadly Intent (Book 1)Psychic Link (Book 2)Psychic Charm (Book 3)Psychic Games (Book 4)Deadly Dreams (Book 5)CREE BLUE PSYCHIC EYEDead Wrong (Book 1)Deadly Vows (Book 2)Dead Famous (Book 3)Deadly Ties (Book 4)Deadly Bliss (Book 5)Deadly Flirtations (Book 6)THE HEX SISTER MYSTERIESWitch Unleashed (Book 1)Witchy Trouble (Book 2)Witch Bait (Book 3)Witchy Warning (Book 4)Witchy Past (Book 5)Witch Hunt (Book 6)TIME SWEEPERSTime Watch (Book 1)Time Keepers (Book 2)FRACTURED MINDS SERIESStalking Justice (Book 1)<
I've read 17 books by Kate Allenton, including this one, and they all have great characters and great stories, but this is a cut above the rest. It's a romantic suspense with some steam and some fantastic sexual tension. It surprised me. After all I've read by this author, this is the first one that had that element. There might be more, I don't know. This was just my first encounter.
Gwen Bennett works for the FDG (Fairy Damn Godmother) which is a security firm that works outside the regular three letter government agencies. They aren't rogue and they do deal with the police. What separates them from the others is they aren't restrained by rules and laws and from what I gathered, they're all women with special skills and talents. Gwen was considered a chameleon. She played different roles to get what she needed and did it expertly.
But there was no role playing in this case. The book starts with her grandmother and numerous other residents being swindled out of their money by a conman. Nobody messes with a member of the Bennett family without some sort of repercussions and Gwen is hot on this guy's trail. What she wasn't counting on was having another case be assigned to her that involved kidnapping and death threats of a mother and child. She wanted to take care of her grandmother's case first and told Carter Pierce he could wait. She really had no choice but to take the case. Fortunately, the conman was vacationing on a secluded island that Carter's family owned. Gwen met Carter's brother, Max, who was helpful in taking care of the rapscallion. Max had his own interests at heart and wanted Gwen to hurry up with the first case. Max's sister and niece were being threatened and, like Gwen, he'd do anything to protect his family. Max and Gwen end up going to the island together.
There's a lot of chemistry between Gwen and Max. Gwen was pretty salacious at times. She came right out and told Max that she wouldn't mind having a tryst with him with no strings attached. He put her off time and again, not wanting to mix business with pleasure. After the case was closed, only then would they give into their desires. She knew not to mix business with pleasure, too because it would cloud her judgment and be a distraction.
I liked Gwen a lot. Normally, I don't like a female main character that's in charge, but her character wasn't overdone. She didn't emasculate Max or any other man in the book to make herself look bigger or more important. I loved her honesty and candor. There was no mistaking where she was at.
Max didn't mind her being in charge, but at the same time he wasn't whipped. He was still a man and acted like a man. He was her partner in the case, even though he isn't called that. Ultimately, he broke her heart. When he spoke of "amateur hour", I could feel Gwen's heart shatter. She doesn't let on that he's hurt her, but that was just a damn mean thing to say. (I hope that isn't a spoiler).
The characters were genuine, the story was fast paced with action, suspense, and twists and turns, the steamy scenes were well-written, and everything came together for a surprise ending. I thought I had it figured out earlier in the book, but I didn't.
This was a great start to a new series and I'm looking forward to reading them all.
*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.
This was a difficult one for me to rate. I am ending up with a 3.5/5 stars for me. It is the story of Gwen, an operative for the FDG (fairy damn godmothers) who are hired to do all kinds of jobs. She has a knack for blending in, has an amazing memory and has an incredible tech set up. Her most recent is to protect a young girl who has been threatened if her father does not drop out of a political race. She wants to reject the job, but they have access to something she needs after her grandmother is swindled out of her savings. The story/plot were good. I liked the idea behind it all, with the drama and the suspense. It was unpredictable and I did not see the ending coming at all. If it based off that, I would have enjoyed the story more. The reason I downgraded is that the books starts off telling you that Gwen is not like other women and does not fall for men on her cases. But then she does just that, almost immediately. And the romance feels slightly rushed and forced. I also was given this book in an UF giveaway, so I was disappointed with how little actual fantasy elements were in the book. It does have witches, but Gwen herself does not seem to have any powers besides her incredible memory. That is personal preference and didn't really affect my rating though.
"Rotten Apple" is a very silly book and, mostly, is the better for it. The problem for me is that it doesn't go for it and, instead, reels the madness in. Gwen Bennet is a highly skilled operative with the Fairy Damn Godmother (FDG) group. Think James Bond with different chromosomes. She's also got a multitude of sisters with various psychic powers. Gwen is hired to protect a wealthy mother and child. And she mostly does just that, until it all falls apart. And, of course, there is the budding attraction to Maxwell Pierce, brother of the aforementioned mother. It's nicely written but too studiously plotted - using something like "The Five Things You Absolutely Must Include in your Novel". 2.5 Stars, raised to 3 Stars.
This was a well written whodunit with strong characters and plenty of plot twists. It was an exciting read, Multi POV, standalone with interconnected characters throughout the series. Gwen is a Jack of all trades that works for a fixer service. Security is her specialty. Max is wanting to hire her to protect his sister and niece as well as find their stalker. Gwen is funny and feisty. Wish we could have seen more of her skills. I liked all the main characters, looking forward to book two.
I liked this book, but then kind of felt like can this chick do everything 😒 plus this book seemed kind of quick so there really wasn’t a fleshing out of the character, which I think is where the problem came in. It was too fast for me I think because the whole story just happened in a week and now they’re happily ever after and I really don’t know either character by the end of the book, it makes me not want to read her sister’s stories.
Gwen is an operative for Fairy Damn Godmother (FDG). All the operatives have special abilities. One of hers' is speaking 7 languages. Her sisters have special abilities , also. She is asked to protect a woman and her 5 year old daughter who have received death threats. The ladies brothers hired her, and they are both handsome and single. Absolutely loved this book !!!
Great story, a touch of paranormal but oh so little that it doesn’t make a difference one way or another, action, logical story, and well just the right way to make the whole thing great. How can I describe this one? Romance with a side of thriller? Strong heroine, heart stopping caring heroe. And everything ends up well. My kind of books,!
So this is about the 13th book I read and sure enough the heroine got shot…can’t figure out why this is something Ms Allentown insists on putting in every storyline. Good story, could’ve easily been written without the shot. So I now know that every book I read in the future the heroine is most likely going to get shot.
I loved the first book of the new Bennett Dynasty series! The story was more in depth than some of Ms. Allenton’s most recent books, giving us a lot more to look forward to! Yay!
I seemed to have been infected with KA’s story telling spirit. I have a TBR list taller than I am, but I find myself going from one of her series to the next. I so love a good author.
There were typos and POV changed in the middle of the book, but it was still fun. I was a little disappointed that Gwen didn't have more "powers" than just kicking ass.
I enjoyed the story with its many facets, the swindle, the chase, the interactions between the main characters and it held my interest throughout. My first Kate Allenton book but won't be my last...
The biggest thing I was less than satisfied with in this book was the sense that the MC was too good at everything. The solutions were too easy and didn't challenge her enough.