[Book Review] Takeover By Anna Zabo & Cafe Du Monde Coffee and Chicory

Title: Takeover
Series/Universe: Takeover, #1
Author: Anna Zabo
Publisher: InterMix (Penguin Group)
Publication date: August 19th 2014
Page Count: 229 pages
Age Rating: Adult (language, explicit sexual scenes, pain play)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received an ARC to review
Publisher’s page: Takeover

Michael Sebastian thought Curacao would be the perfect place to have a little fun in the sun—and between the sheets. So far, no one has struck his interest, until Sam Anderson walks into the bar. With one look at his tense body and expensive suit, Michael knows that this is a man in need of release. And Michael is more than willing to lend a hand.

Shattered by the most intense sex he’s ever had, Sam has to face the facts—one night with a handsome, dominating stranger is all he gets before returning to the closet he’s been suffocating in for years. But when Sam starts his new job as the CEO of a failing technology company, he discovers that Michael is one of his new employees.

While Michael is desperate for another night with Sam, he knows he shouldn’t get involved with his boss, let alone another man who can’t accept who he is. But as they’re forced to work together to save the company, the desire sparking between them becomes impossible to ignore

My Review

Sam Anderson cuts a fine figure in his perfectly tailored power suits. A high-powered CEO, Sam commands respect in the boardroom – sadly he feels he has to hide the fact that he’s gay to keep that respect. And if he’s worried about the truth about his sexual orientation getting out, he’s absolutely terrified about others finding out about his submissive and masochistic bedroom preferences.

Michael Sebastian is trying to focus on saving the tech company he’s put his blood, sweat, and tears into while still reeling from the devastating aftermath of his last disastrous relationship with a closeted man. Michael played it pretty vanilla with his ex, but he’s missed being dominant in bed and being able to give someone else what they need.

Both men find themselves in the right place at the right time while vacationing on the Caribbean island of Curacao and end up sharing an intense night together. The two never expect to see each other again, so of course the universe conspires against them and they unexpectedly come face to face in the office – with Sam as Michael’s new boss.

I really enjoyed this book. There’s a lot of heat here (and some pretty explicit love scenes), but there’s also a lot of real world problems and worries the couple has to get through if they want to make it work. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that Sam and Michael could be perfect for each other, in and out of the bedroom, but sometimes it’s not that easy and this book takes the time to explore that. There are also a lot of business details in this book; I don’t know anything about business or tech companies so I took everything at face value and really liked how it added some depth and realness to the story.

All in all, a quick read, but a great, engrossing angsty romance. There’s a second book coming out in the same universe focusing on a new couple, but with some revisiting of Sam and Michael as well (as supporting characters as far as I can tell) and I’ll definitely be picking it up when it comes out (Just Business, June 2015).

In Takeover, Sam and Michael attend a tech conference in New Orleans and while there Michael introduces Sam to the wonders of chicory coffee. The two also enjoy beignets in a French Quarter café. If we’re talking chicory coffee and beignets in New Orleans’s French Quarter then we have to talk about Café du Monde and Cafe Du Monde Coffee and Chicory – a very strong, bold, and smooth coffee with a warm, unique, and almost nutty flavor to it.