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galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
READ: May 2023
FORMAT: Audio
BRIEF SUMMARY:
In this contemporary romance, Fazil and Eli travel to Seattle to work with a company’s employees to transform the company into an attractive and marketable asset. In what seems like a cosmic joke, Fazil’s first love and boyfriend from his teenage years is a key player in the department that he’s meant to work with. Todd is just as shocked to see Fazil come through the doors, having spent many long years trying to reconnect with the man who made himself impossible to find.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 3.5 / 5⭐
The third book in this series, Due Diligence feels a bit like Takeover Book 1, Take 2: This one has more stakes and consequences and an actual ending. The plots are very samey as far as their main beats go: Fazil and Todd are surprise-coworkers who knew each other beforehand and get into a relationship they have to keep hushed, thanks to workplace policies and homophobia. The antagonists of this book feel a bit like a copy-paste of the one from the first, too. The main difference is in how our main characters met; where Sam and Michael were a vacation one-night-stand, Fazil and Todd have history together stretching back to their foundational, exploratory teenage years.
The interesting thing that this story does (and I don’t know if this is a common trope because I typically avoid romances with previously-established relationships) is that both of our men have a separate version of events from their separation all those years ago, and both hold resentment for how they perceived the other’s behaviour of the time. The reality is that both were awful teenagers, and both continue to carry awful traits into the present. Old habits die hard, and they have one final chance to break the cycle that dooms history into repeating itself.
TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.75 / 5⭐
I’m a tiny bit surprised that there’s only two years between book one and this book. On a couple of occasions through my listen, I really did think that this one seemed like Zabo was taking a crack at the first book again. That’s not to say they’re entirely the same, or that if you’ve read one, you’ve read the other; the main characters are still extremely different between the two books, and they all have their own tastes and personalities. But the growth in writing is glaring. Comparing the two books, everything from the first just felt under-developed, from the plot to the characters to the conclusion. This time around, we’ve got all of that.
Don’t get me wrong, this book is by no means a perfect piece of art; it’s exactly what it promises to be, meeting expectations as far as contemporary romances are concerned. If I was disappointed by anything, I’d have to say it’s the side characters, who are all showing up to perform a role instead of enriching the world-building. Beyond Eli, Sam, and Jason (all of whom we know from the previous books), I couldn’t tell you the first detail from any other character beyond, “there were two completely deplorable toolbags who said and did awful things.”
FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.75 / 5⭐
If you were let down by book one and shy about giving the rest of the series a chance (as I was for a while), then I am happy to tell you that things do improve. This book brings back the business politics that book two completely lacked, as well. That can be a pro or a con depending on your personal tastes, but I never felt like it got too dry or lost in the weeds.
This book has representation for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. There are a number of non-white characters portrayed, including one of our main characters who is Turkish-American.
The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Sexual content, and Hate crime
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity
_isabel_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
4.0
GAH, another winner from Mx. Zabo.
"Due Diligence" was steamy, flirty, a fair bit more light-hearted than the previous book, but still deliciously angsty and heart-wrenchingly intense.
I absolutely adored the story: second-chance romances are slowly but surely becoming a favourite trope of mine. Plus, as I have come to expect (and love) from this author, it's KINKY. Not as much as Eli and Justin's story, but yeah: Fazil and Todd have a ton of chemistry and the steam was truly *chef's kiss*
I adored Fazil to absolute bits: yes, he's flawed and he enjoys running from potential heartbreak instead of talking about it, but I really, really loved him. He's lovely, and sweet and insecure and competent, and 100% relatable. I just wanted to wrap him up in blankets and keep him safe.
Todd, on the other hand... I spent half of the book thinking "meh, he's okay" and the other half absolutely despising him. I hated how controlling he was at times, and by the end of the book I was quite ready to strangle him: thank god he manages to get his head out of his ass, and redeem himself through a lot of groveling. I still hated the way he acted though.
So yes, I would have definitely given this book 5 stars, if only Todd hadn't been such a overbearing (and not in the fun way) dick.
But never mind, I still loved Fazil and I loved having Eli around, and I loved how protective the whole office got of Fazil by the end. It was beyond sweet, and also gut-wrenching: the stuff both he and Eli were subjected to was horrific.
(TW: anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, instances of racism and homophobia)
Anyway, Todd aside, I really adored this story. It was addictive and angsty and sweet, and now I can't wait to read Brian's story.
"Due Diligence" was steamy, flirty, a fair bit more light-hearted than the previous book, but still deliciously angsty and heart-wrenchingly intense.
I absolutely adored the story: second-chance romances are slowly but surely becoming a favourite trope of mine. Plus, as I have come to expect (and love) from this author, it's KINKY. Not as much as Eli and Justin's story, but yeah: Fazil and Todd have a ton of chemistry and the steam was truly *chef's kiss*
I adored Fazil to absolute bits: yes, he's flawed and he enjoys running from potential heartbreak instead of talking about it, but I really, really loved him. He's lovely, and sweet and insecure and competent, and 100% relatable. I just wanted to wrap him up in blankets and keep him safe.
Todd, on the other hand... I spent half of the book thinking "meh, he's okay" and the other half absolutely despising him. I hated how controlling he was at times, and by the end of the book I was quite ready to strangle him: thank god he manages to get his head out of his ass, and redeem himself through a lot of groveling. I still hated the way he acted though.
So yes, I would have definitely given this book 5 stars, if only Todd hadn't been such a overbearing (and not in the fun way) dick.
But never mind, I still loved Fazil and I loved having Eli around, and I loved how protective the whole office got of Fazil by the end. It was beyond sweet, and also gut-wrenching: the stuff both he and Eli were subjected to was horrific.
(TW: anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, instances of racism and homophobia)
Anyway, Todd aside, I really adored this story. It was addictive and angsty and sweet, and now I can't wait to read Brian's story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Racism, and Homophobia
dobbsthedog's review against another edition
4.0
CW: antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia
I think this one is my favourite of the series so far. I just really, really liked the two MCs, Fazil and Todd. Plus, Eli was also in this one quite a bit, and I definitely like his character.
So, basically, Fazil and Todd dated (were boyfriends) in high school, but due to poor communication, they broke up when Fazil went to California for university. 15 years later and they meet up again when Fazil is brought in as a consultant at the bigoted company that Todd works for. They reconnect and so on and so forth.
I liked that this book was set in Seattle, instead of Pittsburg, where the first two are set. I’ve actually been to Seattle, but not Pittsburg, so it was a bit easier to picture things. I also liked the geeky bits that were thrown in (the game they create with the D20 was 🥵).
Guess I’ll be binging this series, as I’ve already got book 4 downloaded and ready to go.
I think this one is my favourite of the series so far. I just really, really liked the two MCs, Fazil and Todd. Plus, Eli was also in this one quite a bit, and I definitely like his character.
So, basically, Fazil and Todd dated (were boyfriends) in high school, but due to poor communication, they broke up when Fazil went to California for university. 15 years later and they meet up again when Fazil is brought in as a consultant at the bigoted company that Todd works for. They reconnect and so on and so forth.
I liked that this book was set in Seattle, instead of Pittsburg, where the first two are set. I’ve actually been to Seattle, but not Pittsburg, so it was a bit easier to picture things. I also liked the geeky bits that were thrown in (the game they create with the D20 was 🥵).
Guess I’ll be binging this series, as I’ve already got book 4 downloaded and ready to go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
penguinsquack's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read the first half of this a year ago but it didn't grip me then. I finally got back to it now and really enjoyed it, but because of the time gap I can't be sure any review would be accurate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Racism, and Religious bigotry
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