Review: Not Your Typical CEO Read - LOVED This Book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
THIS IS A MUST READ BOOK! I LOVED IT!In a time and genre where CEOs are normally written to be intense, brooding Alpha males with dark pasts, Tracy Wolff has flipped the switch and created a story that although may be compared to Bared to You and Fifty Shades, it stands on its own. RUINED tells a fantastic story that hooked me from the very beginning until the very last line.  The author seemed to have done the impossible – she climbed inside my head and found out everything that I would want in a book and she put it on paper.Chloe is interning at Frost Industries, a biomedical technology corporation, and on her first day meets Ethan Frost in the most interesting and amusing way. As a side note, I must say that the first meeting between the heroine and hero is one of my favorite parts about romance novels, no matter the genre. And when done right, it really sets the tone of the book and their relationship. So in this book, by having them meet in such a unique way, it really piqued my interest and I just knew I was going to like this book.This is the first of a two book series and the majority of this book was the development of Ethan and Chloe’s relationship. What I fascinated me about them was that their relationship wasn’t some cat and mouse game. Instead it was more like a battle of the sexes to see who would break first. It was actually very amusing to read how they used a blender for a power struggle (you’ll get it when you read it). She is saucy and argumentative and does not like falling into stereotypes. And he never backs down and doesn’t like to lose. I loved that even though he was a CEO and technically her boss, they were equals and went head to head.Ethan Frost. Yum. He is the a-typical hero. He is a rich, intelligent, brilliant man who exudes power and dominance. You would think he’d be like every other CEO we read about, meaning a dominating Alpha male. However, the truth is although he does have Alpha male qualities and he exudes strength and sexuality, he wasn’t like that. He was exactly what Chloe needed – dominating when she needed him to take the lead, passive when she needed to be in control, attentive to her needs. He was her safe place; he was the one person who made her feel safe and believe that she could overcome her demons. He was perfect. There is not one thing I would change about him.And Chloe – I loved her! She was exactly the kind of heroine I love reading about. Sure she has a dark past, which forces her to build walls around her heart and keep everyone at a distance. But she was so aware of what she was doing and she didn’t let her issues hold her back from what she wanted – mainly Ethan. She never ran away, she never tried to hide from her feelings. And despite the fact that her internal thoughts did go on for a bit longer than I would have liked, I at least understood her. She was rational, mature and 100% likeable.There was ZERO stupidity in this book. I was pretty shocked at how rational and mature these two characters were, especially for two people who don’t really “do” relationships. It was a breath of fresh air and made me love this story even more. It allowed me to overlook the two minor qualms I had with this story.The first being Chloe’s age. She is twenty and to be honest I felt her age did not match her personality and maturity level, especially given her history. Unless her age becomes vital in the second book, I don’t feel like it was realistic that she was only twenty – especially given the amount of responsibility she had at her internship. So in my head, I sort of pretended she was older than she was. The other minor issue I had, and I mentioned it above, was that there were a lot of internal dialogue. Chloe was very verbose in her head and sometimes it dragged out just a bit. However, these two minor things did not really affect my rating nor how I very this book. I honestly overlooked them easily, but I still feel I should mention them.And then there was the ending. HOLY CRAP – I did not see that coming. Okay scratch that, I might have thought it could be a possibility but that was only like at 90% so it was still extremely unpredictable. Now you’re probably wondering…does this book have a cliffhanger? My short answer – NO. Here’s why – all it did was bring a new piece to the puzzle and created a new storyline to take the reader into ADDICTED, the sequel. I’m sure some of you will disagree with my definition of a cliffhanger. But since no one was left on the cusp of death or a huge disconnect between the two main characters, I don’t view it as one.Regardless, THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING and I highly recommend you read it. If you are looking for a book along the lines of Bared to You or other Alpha male millionaire books, then this is the one for you!