STRICTLY BUSINESS // BAD FOR BUSINESS (Mixing Business with Pleasure Series books 1 & 2) by Ace Gray Double Book Review

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STRICTLY BUSINESS // BAD FOR BUSINESS

S T R I C T L Y   B U S I N E S S: 

synopsis:

Kate Elliott isn't going to take falling in love lying down. 

Kate's life is good by any measure. At 28, she has an incredibly successful company that affords her the couture lifestyle any Manhattan power player would expect. Being surrounded by luxury is almost enough to make the lack of romance in her life bearable. Almost. 

When she meets Nicholas Bryant, she’s consumed by desire despite discovering he's her new, savvy, and therefore dangerous, competitor. After a series of hot and cold meetings—where the two compete over who is more hotheaded rather than market share—they succumb to passion in one perfect, electric weekend. But as soon as they resurface, trouble begins brewing that may cost Kate her empire, or worse, her long walled off heart.

Strictly Business is a steamy romance with content suitable for mature audiences.

I have spent couple weeks trying to find words worthy of how I feel about this book. I loved the characters, LOVED them, I loved the writing, I FELT it. I loved Kate Elliott and all of her strong, badass, independent ways. I was empowering to read about her and her accomplishments. The dynamic between her and Nicholas Bryant was such an interesting one. She was attracted to him instantly.(duh!) And I actually found it fascinating how she almost immediately let her guard down around him. Nick held a power over her and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. They had to find a balance...determining how much of their selves to let go and surrender, all the while holding their ground and holding tight to their boundaries. But will those boundaries... those walls stand in the way of TRUE LOVE??? AHHH! My heart & head were at war this whole book. Not even knowing what to hope for, except for LOVE to WIN! Oh, did I mention that this book is SEXY AS FUCK??? Love scenes were, inspiring to say the least. :) Nick and Kate have such a strong undeniable chemistry, that just their daily conversation is hot. I'd get wet listening to them discuss what deductions to claim on their taxes. Just saying. 

ONE -CLICK STRICTLY BUSINESS TODAY!                                 (SO YOU CAN READ IT BEFORE BOOK 2 COMES OUT!) (((CLICK HERE!)))

B A D   F O R   B U S I N E S S: 

synopsis:

Falling was the easy part.

Kate Elliott can still see blood on her hands and feel the last breath of a dying man on her lips. Anytime she closes her eyes, a small piece of her world crumbles, leaving her something she's never been: weak. Luckily, Nicholas Bryant is strong enough for the both of them. And he'd do anything to lift Kate up…kiss her tears until they stop, take her breath away, and pleasure her until she barely remembers the outside world.

But...

Nicholas' past is catching up to him, and fast. The secrets he's kept at bay have wound their way into his present and threaten the very real future he’s started to build with Kate. He'll fight for Kate—every bit as much as he'll fight with her—but even that may not be enough. Nicholas Bryant may turn out to be very Bad For Business after all.

Like the good little blogger I am, I will try to find words where they've completely failed me. This book you guys... it absolutely blew me away. 

Bad for Business Picks up right where Strictly Business left off. Nick and Kate have gone through difficult almost unbearable things and come out the other end still standing. I want to say stronger, but they each are still trying to find their bearings. 

While I truly loved Strictly Business, it blew me away and I will never forget the first time I fell for these amazing characters... after reading Bad for Business I see that it was only a slight tease, of how deep this story was going to go. Bad for business took us, the reader to places with Nick and Kate that we may not have been ready to, or even willing to go. We traveled through uncharted waters, up to the tops of mountains the Ace threw us off blindfolded. And Holy Shit did I love ever second of the rush! 

I think that one of my favorite things about reading is when I unconsciously STOP reading and just start FEELING. I'm not watching the clock, or the percentage, I'm not thinking about sounds outside or what trouble my kids are causing in the next room. All through out this book I just handed myself over to the author, and to the characters, and let them take the lead. Holy Shit. I don't ever want my heart back. I didn't want to leave this world, or Nick and Kate behind.

This book was RAW, Unapologetic, Heartbreaking, Infuriating, Invigorating, Heartwarming, Sweet, and just Sexy as Fuck. 

Its a beautiful thing, putting your trust in an author, putting your heart and your time (such a valuable thing) in their hands and having faith that they won't lead you astray. Please put your trust in this blogger when I say,  read this series! Its spectacular. Fall in love with Nick & Kate with me. ...and then hit me up so we can talk about it like 13 year old girls! Eeeeeeeeeeeee! #ACEFANGIRL4LIFE

Bad for Business is scheduled for release on JUNE 28th! 

Ace Gray is a self-proclaimed troublemaker and connoisseur of both the good life and fairy tales. After a life-long love affair with books, she undertook writing the novel she wanted to read, which culminated in her first release STRICTLY BUSINESS. When she's not writing, she owns her own business teaching Pilates. She loves rainy days, shellac manicures, coffee shops and bourbon--all of which are bountiful in her adopted home of Portland, OR where she runs amok with her chef husband and two huskies.

To read My 5 Question interview with the Amazing Ace Gray 

(CLICK HERE)

STALK ACE WITH ME YOU GUYS! 

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5 Questions With ACE GRAY & Cover Reveal for Bad For Business!

[How Fucking Cute is My Girl ACE?]

1. Last book you read that made you laugh out loud? Last book you read that made you cry? Last book you read that rocked your whole wide world?

So I know you all think I joke about my cold, dead heart that is incapable of emotion but it’s sort of true. I do anxiety really freaking well but beyond that it’s hard for a book to make me laugh or cry. Unless you kill the animal, in which case I ball like a little baby. Frequently. I loved 44 Chapters About 4 Men because I did laugh out loud while reading it. I worship BB Easton on an unhealthy level because she made me feel things. It was uncomfortable at first but now… And the last book that made me cry? Wait for it… My book. (I’m well aware of what a psychopath I am.) I finished my final read through before sending Family Business (book 3) to my beta readers and I cried. For a hot second, I thought what I wrote was actually beautiful. Don’t worry, the delusions have passed.

2. How much of your heroine Kate in STRICTLY BUSINESS is based on your own life? Sometimes the line between Fantasy & Reality blurs. Can you give us a hint of if any parts are based on your own fantasies or your own reality? ;) 

PS: I noticed that its intended for mature audiences… however all of your teasers make me blush and giggle like a schoolgirl, is this going to be a problem? ;) 

Oh man. I’m a Pilates instructor in Portland, OR with a very sweet husband with whom I’ve only really ever had one blow out fight. It was about tacos (true and very funny story actually). So on the surface, not a lot. And I’m actually really patient and forgiving until that moment that I’m not. Then you’re dead to me. That said, in a past life, I had every intention of being Kate when I grew up. I went to one of the top communications school in the country and imagined walking in power heels through the doors of some stellar ad agency in Manhattan. Can you imagine being surrounded by all those power suits? Drool. Then a boy derailed all that and I took a detour through a hippie ski town but I’m better now. We’re both ambitious but have different methods of going about things to say the least. Probably why she’s so damned successful and I’m having beers in a swimming hole. As for the dirty stuff—and yes, there’s a lot of dirty stuff—its a mashup of fantasy and reality but I’ll never tell which is which.

Purchase [Click Here!]

3. How in the world did you get SO DAMN GOOD at drawing eggplant fairies? (ok lets keep it real, dick fairies) Did you start at a young age? Did you ever attend art school? And how do you find the time to balance ALL of your talents writing, boozing, and drawing? And most importantly… do you have any other hidden talents you want to tell us about?!

The dick fairy you won is the first dick fairy I’ve ever drawn. Turned out alright I think??? And if you ever feel like it, pull it out (or anyone else who has received a dick fairy for that matter) and note that it is in fact drawn on the back of random pieces of my mail. My mother who has a degree in fine art must be so proud. 

As for how do I find time to manage all the shenanigans? Well I find multi-tasking to be quite helpful (drinking and writing, drinking and drawing, drinking and photographing…) My other talents include car karaoke, quoting TV shows and movies, making friends with strangers, tying cherry stems in knots with my tongue, and cooking things that would make frat boys cringe. I’ve been told I tell a good story too…   

4. Can you give us any juicy details about Mixing Business With Pleasure Number Two? Do you have an expected release month? 

If all goes to plan book two, Bad For Business, will be out at the end of June. You know that I’m about as subtle as a blow horn so you’ll get a ton info as soon as I know. I am really proud of this book (which is a rarity for me) and I may like it better than Strictly Business.

Three things I can spill about Bad For Business:

*We find out way more about Nicholas’ family and history

*There’s gonna be a lot of “What?” “Huh?” “No way!” and “He didn’t” running around

*Ribbon is back and better than ever if I do say so myself 

5. One of many, many MANY things I love about you is that you give so much love and support to your fellow authors, and bloggers. You’re just such a fun, badass presence in the indie-romance-book-community (ok we need a better name) I love your WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday) posts on Instagram. :) I love that you send shoutouts to fellow authors who inspire you, I just think it keeps the love a’flowin. Its a big fuck you to competition and a big fuck yeah to sisterhood! So I wanted to ask, Who was your FIRST official GIRL CRUSH? And who are some of your current WCEs (Woman Crush Er’rydays) and what about them inspires you?

Let me just start by saying the world is a better place when we love each other. Life is more fun, your heart infinitely more full and the light a bit brighter when you sprinkle love and kindness. I’m all about “you can sit with us” and celebrating the badass bishes we all are or can be. 

And first official woman crush, eh? Can I say my mom? Is that weird? I mean weirder than I usually am? OOOoooo Princess Diana, Julie Andrews or Pussy Galore were all early ones too. And nowadays I’d just add Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Dolly Parton and RuPaul to that celebrity list. BB Easton, AM Johnson and M Andrews are all legitimate heroes of mine as well. Anyone that works hard for what they have, is kind along the way, embraces life and sees the best in others is damn fine in my book. 

(Photo By love2read_)

Bonus Question: 

Ok, you’re at Disneyland. Stuck on Its A Small World. No one is on the ride but you. Its soooo lonely in there… but wait… who’s that coming… oh look its the motherfucking MAINTENANCE CREW made up of none other then:

Name 3 Book Boyfriends:

This question is so hard! Specially because I get to write my own personal favorite book boyfriends LOL. I have a thing for the Beautiful boys from Christina Lauren (all three of them thanks), King from King, and Gage from Beneath the Vine BUT if I got to pick anyone, I’d pick Nicholas Bryant, Cole (from my newsletter) and Greyson (from a project that I’ve written and need to edit/publish called The Muse)   

They finally got the song to turn off, and they put in this album over the sound system: 

Can’t pick. Ever. I LOVE MUSIC. I’d really like it to be indie rock though. That’s my fave. And we could totally go with something sexy like Glass Animals to set the mood. OOOooo or The XX. Or maybe Banks, Alt-J, Halsey, Lana Del Rey…I can keep doing this. For like hours.

They feel so bad that its gonna take all night long for them to fix the ride so they offer to hand feed you: 

Fried chicken. duh.

Once the ride is fixed they tell you it looks like you guys are stuck in there until the park opens up in the morning, they ask you how you want to pass the time and you say: 

Play canasta. And by play canasta I mean…

AND NOW FOR THE COVER REVEAL OF: BAD FOR BUSINESS

B L U R B:

Falling was the easy part.

Kate Elliott can still see blood on her hands and feel the last breath of a dying man on her lips. Anytime she closes her eyes, a small piece of her world crumbles, leaving her something she's never been: weak. Luckily, Nicholas Bryant is strong enough for the both of them. And he'd do anything to lift Kate up…kiss her tears until they stop, take her breath away, and pleasure her until she barely remembers the outside world.

But...

Nicholas' past is catching up to him, and fast. The secrets he's kept at bay have wound their way into his present and threaten the very real future he’s started to build with Kate. He'll fight for Kate—every bit as much as he'll fight with her—but even that may not be enough. Nicholas Bryant may turn out to be very Bad For Business after all.

ABOUT ACE GRAY:

Ace Gray is a self-proclaimed troublemaker and connoisseur of both the good life and fairy tales. After a life-long love affair with books, she undertook writing the novel she wanted to read, which culminated in her first release STRICTLY BUSINESS. When she's not writing, she owns her own business teaching Pilates. She loves rainy days, shellac manicures, coffee shops and bourbon--all of which are bountiful in her adopted home of Portland, OR where she runs amok with her chef husband and two huskies.

STALK ACE WITH ME YOU GUYS! 

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