Book Reviews/ September 24, 2023September 24, 2023

Protege King by Lisa Renee Jones Book Review

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Blurb

Damion West was the boy who stole my young heart and then broke it. That was a long time ago though and I’m not a girl susceptible to hot boys with big egos who just happen to kiss well anymore. Nor have I kept up with Damion West. Okay, I have. Everyone has. He’s the heir to West Enterprises.

Everyone knows Damion West.
Just not like I do.
But that’s another story better left untold.

It’s hard sometimes to remember that I’m no slouch myself. Confidence isn’t exactly my forte but I fake it well. I’ve worked with my parents’ real estate firm catering to the rich and famous for years and I’m now one of the top agents in the country. Blue Enterprises is the name of our firm, which is also my name. Blue. Alana Blue. And now I’m on TV, the star of Selling in New York.

But every family has secrets. Damion’s does and mine does as well.
That’s why I have the TV show I didn’t really want.
Nothing is real.
Except him. Damion. He’s real. So is my past with him. But it’s the past.

Then one day I get called to a meeting by the studio head, it’s all very secretive.
Because it’s not the studio at all, or actually, it is. Because his family owns everything.

That’s right.
The meeting is with him. It’s with Damion West.
And Lord help me, he’s now sexier, and more arrogant than ever.

Also it turns out that what Damion wants from me isn’t as simple as a real estate contract.
But it’s a contract all right.

Sensitive Content

Here is the potentially sensitive content I observed while reading:

Alcohol
Blackmail
Cheating
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Sexual Harassment

Ratings

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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!

Overall Rating

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really love the idea of a Wall Street billionaire and this childhood friends to lovers story where they were neighbors growing up. It was very, very sweet at points . I liked Alana’s desire to protect her self and her family. It was spicy and I liked Damion a lot.

I do feel like the flashbacks were a little bit disjointed and sometimes they did throw me off in my comprehension. I had to go back in the audio, as I did listen to the story as an audiobook. That could’ve affected my overall understanding, though the narrators were really great for this book.

There was a lot of potential here, but I didn’t really enjoy the fact that their romance was so heavily impacted by their dads when both main characters are in their thirties. There were so many years that passed with them separated because of simple, misunderstandings or them just not communicating well with each other.

I didn’t know that it was a duet, so that was my first misunderstanding. I do feel like that should’ve been written somewhere in the description of the story with the cliffhanger at the end. This was a quick read and I’m interested to see what the resolution will look like for this couple in book 2.

Thank you to the author for the ALC for review!