Review: What do corporate intrigue and sizzling romance have in common?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 29, 2012
When the CEO of the gold explorations company Cybele Exploration, sends Nikolai Krasnorada to Toronto to seek a partnership with the big hitter, LeBeau Mining, he goes with dread in his heart. Nikolai is not a corporate kind of guy, he belongs in the field not in the boardroom, but he is loyal to a fault to his CEO, Ruslan and will fight dragons for him if that's what it takes.He heads off to Toronto to meet with LeBeau Mining. The elder LeBeau seems interested in the company but decides to sit on his decision, suggesting his nephew, Henri take Nikolai and his colleague Tamas out on the town for the evening. Tamas begs off, leaving Nikolai and Henri to get acquainted and it doesn't take long for Nikolai to realize Henri is interested in showing him more than the sites of Toronto.While Nikolai struggles with Henri's interest in him, he discovers that LeBeau Mining might want to pursue a hostile take over of his company. Now he not only has to question his own feelings about Henri's interest but Henri's intentions as well. Is it possible for a corporate shark and roughneck to meet in the middle and not both get buried alive in the process, Nikolai is about to find out.Meet another one of author Aleksandr Voinov's many personalities, this time around, he has decided to mix it up and show us the softer side we've gotten glimpses of in the past. With this side of him that can break your heart and he throws in a little bit of cutthroat corporate savvy, a dash of humor and some sizzling sexuality to keep us on our toes. We meet two opposite sides of the coin with Nikolai and Henri and somehow Mr. Voinov has managed to make us fall in love with both of them.Nikolai is a man's man. He is comfortable on an oil rig or out in the mines, and he is no stranger to good old fashioned hard work. A bit of a nomad, he roams from country to country, living out of a suitcase. He doesn't have long term relationships but does enjoy whichever woman he's with at the time.Henri is just the opposite, he drives a sports car, wears tailored suits and is comfortable in the boardroom, is a bit of a playboy and doesn't hide the fact that he's attracted to Nikolai. Oil and water, fire and ice, gay and straight, you pick the cliché but these guys are as different as day and night (I had to throw one more in). Imagine Nikolai's confusion when Henri comes on to him and he not only likes it but allows it to go one step further. Nikolai keeps telling himself that it doesn't mean anything, that any red-blooded man would take advantage of what is being offered him, but deep down he is confused about his own sexuality. Henri seems to see something in Nikolai that he can't see himself; he's gentle in his pursuit of Nikolai but is determined to win the game.While Nikolai and Henri are most definitely the key characters in the story, we also meet Nikolai's boss, Ruslan, who is a great character and good for a few moments of almost comic relief. We also meet Nikolai's father, Vadim who is an ex-mercenary and has some deep down issues that we get just enough glimpses of to intrigue us. Both Ruslan and Vadim are interesting characters and I enjoyed getting to know them, while neither are the focus of the story, they are not throw away characters either and, in my humble opinion, helped to make the story more than just a simple love story.Mr. Voinov packs a lot of content into this book. We travel to Toronto, on to New Zealand and back to Toronto. We see a man wrestling with his own identity and another who is completely comfortable in his own skin, we meet a torn and broken man who has survived and a slightly eccentric man who is more than meets the eye.While essentially Gold Digger is a simple romance there are also great settings, sizzling sensuality, corporate intrigue and interesting characters, what more can one ask of a book? Oh wait, I forgot, it's written in a style that will take you right into the action and out of your own world, if just for a little while. Instead of Calgon take me away, my new mantra is Mr. Voinov take me away, the places he takes me might not always be comfortable but he certainly never disappoints.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Dual Review Team