No real surprises or feelings for the romance sank this book for me. After a more successful read of Book 1 (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3973721102?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1) I was excited to read the next in the series.

Unfortunately, a lot of the story treaded familiar romance grounds - a woman trying to prove herself, a hero struggling with a dark secret, learning to communicate (badly), place in family etc. Given the length of the book there was a little too much happening here which meant that important topics (

Spoiler

like the hero’s infertility

) became a few lines of plot points. I get that HQ novel often do this but here I noticed them a lot more so I was annoyed.

The focus on the heroine was better done and the sections on her working on the sensory clothes for autistic people was actually interesting. I wish the tie into her family was better done though. Adelaide wants to provide her worth to her fashion brand family company so she lands on doing a charity show. Because there was only a line of foreshadowing about why she cared about autism it made the show feel tacked on in terms of the plot.

Again the length of the book and being stuffed with other things didn’t allow for a smoother transition. I wish the book had opened with the show already being thought off and the grandma being against it or something so it didn’t feel so mercenary. However, that would have made the grandmother less sympathetic which I don't think the author wanted to do. It was a pulling of punches which hurt the book.

As for the romance - there wasn’t much. The book is less intense - we only get the couple to kiss mid-way through. It results in a boring romance which can’t balance the book.

2 stars in the end - mostly for the stuff happening around the romance. Parts of the fashion show were genuinely interesting - more so than the romance which was a shame.

Quick Summary: A hot and heavy multicultural romance

My Review: Secret Crush Seduction by Jayci Lee was entirely wonderful.

What I Loved: The undeniable attraction between the leads - Adelaide and Michael - was potent.

The thing that made this couple's relationship spark-worthy is the fact that it was seemingly forbidden, in a sense. Because Michael was her brother's BFF and grew up alongside a much younger Adelaide, it made everything... complicated. Factor in a secret that Michael kept close to his heart, as well as an ongoing coupling on the down low and conflict was bound to happen. The will they/won't they question prevailed until the very end.

My Final Say: As usual, Ms. Lee did a superb job with the emotional arc. She is always on point, in that respect. I felt the pain that Adelaide suffered, as I read about her heartbreak. I felt her pride when she completed the work she was doing. I felt her enthusiasm as she worked alongside her fellow designers. I felt her joyful acceptance when she came to the point of understanding, regarding her grandmother. I was totally with her when she showed her strength in THAT moment. I was right there with her.

This book is a fantastic read. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 4.45/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Series: Yes

#libraryread

This is the third book I have read by this author. This trilogy of books are some hot ones for sure. Take example this scene from the book:

Adelaide: "I get to have you whenever I want, wherever I want, and I want to have you right here tonight. Got it?"

Michael: "So you want to get me wet and naked?"

Adelaide nods.

Michael: "Do you want to watch me undress"

Adelaide: "Yes"

Michael: "How badly?"

Adelaide: "Badly, please"

Now, if that did not get you hot and bothered; I am not sure what would. Thus the reason this book is from the Harlequin Desire line.

Adelaide may come from money but she is out to prove her own worth. She is intelligent as well as not afraid to show she is a strong woman. Although, it does not hurt to have a strong, sexy man by your side either. Michael is just that man. The chemistry they shared is hot. You could feel the sparks flying between them.

This book was a quick read with enjoyable characters. I have become a fan of Jayci Lee. Plus, I must admit that it does not hurt that at least one of her main characters in her books are Asian. As an Asian; this makes me happy to see more books featuring this ethnicity.

Jayci Lee's Heirs of Hansol series about a family of Korean American billionaires is everything I could want from a Harlequin category romance. Secret Crush Seduction had so many elements I loved - mutual pining, brother's best friend, and even a sensory-friendly fashion show. My only complaint is that I wish these books weren't so short because everything moves too fast, especially in regards to sensitive topics like fertility.

Thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for my copy to review.

Fantastic category romance, full of yearning and soapy drama. Adelaide is a great example of the "screwed-up heiress trying to prove herself to her family" heroine and Michael, notably, is not a billionaire but someone who works for a living (as a PR guy) and seems believably successful/competent at it. There are a lot of nice food descriptions. There's the usual rollercoaster of can we be together/oh no we can't. There is a great dressing-down from an angry powerhouse grandma.

I'm really fascinated by how much I enjoyed this book, because (full disclosure) I hated the last book of Lee's I tried to read - in part because of its over-the-top plotting. I think she may be an author who, at least right now, for me as a reader works best in category romance settings, where the characters are permitted to be over-the-top jerks for plot reasons and the drama dial can be turned up to thirteen. For a category romance especially, Michael was definitely not an over-the-top jerk, and Adelaide was easy to empathize with, but there are definitely the usual category romance "oh we can never be together" drama moments and communications issues that wouldn't fly in a more realistic contemporary.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

about halfway through the book Lee decides to bring up infertility (male), which is both weird - Adelaide is in her mid-twenties and at no point have the two of them discussed whether they even want children; we also didn't have any inkling this was an issue of Michael's - and kind of jarring, because it's not like there isn't enough else going on between them without adding that particular plot point. There isn't a ton of attention devoted to it; it just gets kind of thrown in periodically after it's first brought up as yet another reason they can't be together. Additionally, towards the end the heroine's brother punches the hero in the face (for upsetting his sister). It's presented as totally understandable and no one holds a grudge about it (the hero and brother are best friends), but I find casual violence not very fun.

The characters were much more dynamic in this one, and I think Jayci Lee did a fantastic job delivering on the stronger characterization and the pacing of the relationship, given their shared history. What I like about this book and the one after (which I started immediately) is the tension created by their professional lives, separate career pursuits, and forced proximity - which makes sense, given that's what I love to write as well LOL. I also appreciated the focus on fashion that fits the needs of people on the autism spectrum because that's not something I had ever learned much about before and it was important and interesting!