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67th out of 145 books
—
403 voters
Hostile Takeover
by
E.M. Lynley (Goodreads Author)
Years ago, Chase Richards and Mathias Tobler fell in love while training for the US Olympic fencing team. Afterward, they even attended the same business school so they could be together. Then Chase left Mathias alone and heartbroken in Italy. But all of that is ancient history by the time Chase thunders back into Mathias’s safe, settled life with a business deal.
There’s n...more
There’s n...more
ebook, 320 pages
Published
September 28th 2012
by Dreamspinner Press
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2.5 stars. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy this book although in the last 1/4 it did improve. Chase betrayed and left Mathias nine years earlier after choosing his evil father's approval over Mathias's love. Now he's back and determined to get Mathias's attention by any means possible.
Basically the characters aren't likeable. When Mathias doesn't respond favourably to Chase's initial overtures, Chase forces a hostile takeover of Mathias's family business, seduces Mathias's fiancée away from...more
Basically the characters aren't likeable. When Mathias doesn't respond favourably to Chase's initial overtures, Chase forces a hostile takeover of Mathias's family business, seduces Mathias's fiancée away from...more
I've found you again, awful female ex, hiding within the pages of yet another m/m romance! Your fingernails are "long and pink," you live in high heels, you're fashionable, beautiful, vapid and vacuous, bitchy, unfaithful (i.e. "slutty"), talentless, manipulative, superficial, childish, demanding, and unreasonable, a heartless ice-queen or a predatory man-eater (or both!) only there to make your interchangeable husbands/boyfriends/partners miserable. You have no other characteristics. You're not...more
22 likes · like · see review
Sep 29, 2012
Vio
added it
I was left feeling unsatisfied with the romance and both MC's were a bit of a hit and miss throughout. I had the same issues as MandyM did, the last quarter was the best part of the story and for that it gets 3 stars.
ETA: Since the blow-up and the fanfic debacle I will leave it unrated. Now if only the author had just let it go and not made such a big deal about removing the links to the fanfic for readers to compare.
ETA: Since the blow-up and the fanfic debacle I will leave it unrated. Now if only the author had just let it go and not made such a big deal about removing the links to the fanfic for readers to compare.
8 likes · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
10 likes · like · see review
This plot...reminds me of manga.
And okay, I get why you would do all that timeline hopping (kind of) - because you want the story to unfold beautifully at just the right times in just the right way - but damn if it didn't make my head spin a little. I don't even know what time "present day" is anymore @_@
But damn. I had moments when I had chills because it was so impactful.
I don't quite understand how Brooke could be such a tool. (view spoiler)...more
And okay, I get why you would do all that timeline hopping (kind of) - because you want the story to unfold beautifully at just the right times in just the right way - but damn if it didn't make my head spin a little. I don't even know what time "present day" is anymore @_@
But damn. I had moments when I had chills because it was so impactful.
I don't quite understand how Brooke could be such a tool. (view spoiler)...more
Brooke was such an awful caricature of a southern pageant bimbo, I wish she'd been removed from the book. Ugh, every scene with her was repugnant.
So what about the MCs? Well both of them are psychotic, but once you get past that (and Brooke) this ain't a bad read. Rich boy Matthias seems like a good sort, a good looking fencing champion who is training for the Olympic team. Richer boy Chase is bipolar, a rapid cycling manic depressive who switches personality types faster than you can say "touch...more
So what about the MCs? Well both of them are psychotic, but once you get past that (and Brooke) this ain't a bad read. Rich boy Matthias seems like a good sort, a good looking fencing champion who is training for the Olympic team. Richer boy Chase is bipolar, a rapid cycling manic depressive who switches personality types faster than you can say "touch...more
Chase is too bound to his father's approval - damaged goods, but not showing the signs of years of emotional trauma. Mathias is too perfect - almost naive and not suited for the rough and tumble of the business world, until we find he has his own spine of steel as the story rolls on. Miscommunication: more like act of sabotage by an antagonistic father. Female character: a shallow society gal who redeems herself only in the very end.
So here are your tropes, and it doesn't sound like much. That...more
So here are your tropes, and it doesn't sound like much. That...more
4.5 stars
Awww, This should be a movie! You've got:
- The manipulative dad: he's like the devil's voice in your mind and the devil's touch in your life. A ruthless businessman who is training his son in the fine art of corporate raiding or how to acquire a company and dismantle it to make a quick profit, and to hell with the employees and all.
- The daddy boy (Hero 1): He may have turned up well if not for his unhealthy seeking of his father's approval.
- The lover boy (Hero 2): The only good man l...more
Awww, This should be a movie! You've got:
- The manipulative dad: he's like the devil's voice in your mind and the devil's touch in your life. A ruthless businessman who is training his son in the fine art of corporate raiding or how to acquire a company and dismantle it to make a quick profit, and to hell with the employees and all.
- The daddy boy (Hero 1): He may have turned up well if not for his unhealthy seeking of his father's approval.
- The lover boy (Hero 2): The only good man l...more
8 likes · like · see review
Chase and Mathias. Wow, what a ride. These frenemies just... pushed me through some emotional hoops that left me so mad, so frustrated, and so pissed off I was practically shouting! And that's how I know a good book from a meh book. There were lots of times I gritted my teeth, but also times when I laughed out loud. Case in point: "Insert tab A to slot B." How's that for brilliant dialogue? :) Loved it! And the whole duel scene for the fate of a corporation? Nice!
It was so annoying that these gu...more
It was so annoying that these gu...more
3.75 Stars
For the most part I enjoyed this book.
The main negative for me was the jumping backwards in time as the M.C's relived their initial years together. A lot of the jump backs came across as story fillers to add to the word count.
I felt sorry for Chase and Matthias and could sympathise with the reasons Chase let his life spiral out of control and in doing so lost the one important thing in his life, Matthias. For a shy introvert with a controlling, manipulative father, it was a foregone c...more
For the most part I enjoyed this book.
The main negative for me was the jumping backwards in time as the M.C's relived their initial years together. A lot of the jump backs came across as story fillers to add to the word count.
I felt sorry for Chase and Matthias and could sympathise with the reasons Chase let his life spiral out of control and in doing so lost the one important thing in his life, Matthias. For a shy introvert with a controlling, manipulative father, it was a foregone c...more
Miss Lynley...please stop turning your okay fanfics into sub-par ebooks, like you did with Sex Lies and Wedding Bells and now this. Fanfic is forgiving. We know or know something of the characters beforehand and can let a lot slide. Most times we LOVE the characters in a fanfic (this was originally J2 fanfiction) and for that reason alone we let things pass. But in original fic we don't start liking the characters beforehand and you need to WORK to develop them, to make them believable and likea...more
9 likes · like · see review
I loved it. The build up was slow, yet with the addition of flashback scenes, still sexy. These two had a lot of issues to work through that were entirely of their own making. Though there was an evil father who kept them apart, the fact that they stayed apart, and are fighting in the present, is of their own doing. You never even see the father in the present scenes. This book is entirely character driven, and it kept me up last night and made me finish it today even though I'm supposed to be w...more
I really enjoyed the animosity between the characters in this story. I think the author did a great job showing the tension and stress of a coorporate takeover.
The author had an interesting way of skipping back and forth between several different time periods, but I never felt lost or confused. The jumps flowed nicely.
There was one woman in the novel portrayed as a gold-digging harpy, so if that annoys you - you might want to stay clear. In the author's defense, not all women in the book were p...more
The author had an interesting way of skipping back and forth between several different time periods, but I never felt lost or confused. The jumps flowed nicely.
There was one woman in the novel portrayed as a gold-digging harpy, so if that annoys you - you might want to stay clear. In the author's defense, not all women in the book were p...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I adored this book. It's the story of Mathias and Chase, former lovers who met while representing the US at the Olympics in fencing, whilst in college.
They were together for three years before Chase dumped Mathias without any explanation. 9 years later both men are on opposite sides of the corporate table when Chase attempts a hostile takeover of Mathias's company, a company handed down to Mathias from his father and grandfather before him. A company Mathias is determined to save. Through flash...more
They were together for three years before Chase dumped Mathias without any explanation. 9 years later both men are on opposite sides of the corporate table when Chase attempts a hostile takeover of Mathias's company, a company handed down to Mathias from his father and grandfather before him. A company Mathias is determined to save. Through flash...more
I absolutely loved this book. I even went back to read some scenes again already.
It's different from the average m/m romance and that's part of why I liked it so much. Despite some of the negative comments, I think the characters here are interesting and I cared about them. I wanted Mathias to be happy and I wondered for a while why on earth he would want Chase. But the flashbacks layer in the history of the two men and their personalities in a way that builds and builds, so it was haflway thro...more
It's different from the average m/m romance and that's part of why I liked it so much. Despite some of the negative comments, I think the characters here are interesting and I cared about them. I wanted Mathias to be happy and I wondered for a while why on earth he would want Chase. But the flashbacks layer in the history of the two men and their personalities in a way that builds and builds, so it was haflway thro...more
Wasn't for me, I found the bouncing between the years confusing and it ripped me right out of the story. I didn't like Chase at all and thought he was a total asshole right the way through the book. The female (yawn) Brooke was the usual revolting nasty manipulative yadayadayada..... and Tee whilst being a decent human being was so unbelievable forgiving it made me angry and think "what a complete doormat".
5 likes · like · see review
Hostile Takeover suffers badly from a series flashbacks to the characters's past that on occasion seem to have been dropped at random into the story and add little if anything to the plot. Then there are the characters. Chase is simply appalling for most of the book and Brooke, the fiancé of Chase's lost love, is so poorly deveolped (she is essentially a self-interested, cold hearted, slutty and disloyal ex-beauty queen) that she is a caricature. Disappointing.
5 stars
WOW just WOW!
On reading the blurb(Dreamspinner Press), I knew this was the perfect book for me.
This book was fantastic :)
For me, it was a great joy to read and I look forward to reading more of Lynley's books.
WOW just WOW!
On reading the blurb(Dreamspinner Press), I knew this was the perfect book for me.
This book was fantastic :)
For me, it was a great joy to read and I look forward to reading more of Lynley's books.
Oct 10, 2012
jules0623
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
beards,
bisexuals-are-not-unicorns,
blackmail-and-bribery,
blurb-was-better-than-the-book,
asshat-friends-or-relatives,
college-boys,
domestic-violence-or-other-abuse,
enemies-to-lovers-or-hate-sex,
evil-harpy-gf-ex-wife-friend,
exes-that-are-not-awesome,
break-up-and-make-up,
friends-to-lovers,
homophobia,
casual-sex-booty-call-drunk-sex,
in-the-closet,
infidelity-or-temptation,
kink-or-fetish,
relationship-m-f,
relationship-m-m,
married-or-committed-men,
men-with-money,
mental-disorder-physical-disability,
misunderstandings-abound,
outed,
sports-stars,
timey-wimey-or-flashbacks,
fabulous-friends-or-relatives
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
3.5 Stars. I would have rated this higher but the ending wrapped things up a little too quickly and perfectly for me.
Overall, a good read though not so much in the romance department.
Chase was an ass but I still really liked the story. Loved the ending.
boring...
HAPPY READING :)
HAPPY READING :)
2.5 stars
Jumps around way to much between many different years. I really didn't like the couple. Chase is an asshole, and Mathias should have moved on to someone better.
Whiplash, yes, this book gave me whiplash.
For some reason I had to keep reading, so the author did good there, but I detested most characters and their actions throughout the story.
For some reason I had to keep reading, so the author did good there, but I detested most characters and their actions throughout the story.
1.5 stars but I'm rounding down.
I have the worst luck with books about business men from Texas.
I have the worst luck with books about business men from Texas.
May 21, 2013
Esma
marked it as may-read
May 17, 2013
Alicia
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dreamspinner Press: Hostile Takeover by EM Lynley | 1 | 10 | Sep 28, 2012 01:33am |
Oct 05, 2012 11:36pm
updated Oct 06, 2012 01:00pm