You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by kindlelovingmom
Going Down Hard by Carly Phillips
4.0
"Come on, princess. Live a little." - Derek West
Going Down Hard is the 3rd book in the Billionaire Bad Boys series, and Derek is part of the trio of best friends who created a successful app-turned IPO, and he is now a billionaire. But, Derek comes from very humble beginnings. His mom was the maid, and his dad the gardener for a very wealthy family. He grew up in the guest house on their property. He was about the same age as their daughter Cassie, but of course they didn't run in the same circles. Also, he went to public school, and Cassie to private school. They crossed paths one night by the pool in the backyard, and he kissed her. He'd hoped for more, but something happened the next day to change his mind about her. Then they both left for college, and that was that.
Flash forward a decade or so, and Cassie is the editor of an online tech magazine, owned by her family's multimedia company, which isn't doing that well. She has been trying to interview many CEOs, and other important people in the tech industry to give her magazine a higher profile. Derek notoriously doesn't do interviews, but she's hoping she can get him to make an exception for her. He agrees, to see her and, of course, sparks fly again, as they had in the past. But, she's still surprised when he agrees to let her write her story. Even when it means shadowing him for a while. But no one is more surprised than Derek himself!
This was a bit of a second chance romance, since they knew each other before, though they were never really together in the past. I really liked their banter, and their chemistry felt really organic because of it. There were many misunderstandings between them from the past, but they moved through them like adults, after having an open communication. Imagine that! I really enjoyed that about them. They reacted to things like adults, and didn't jump to conclusions. There's nothing I hate more in a book than to feel that the entirety of the story's conflict could have been avoided with one simple conversation. There was none of that here.
I liked seeing the characters from the prior stories in the series. Also, I really enjoyed some of the side characters in this story, especially Derek's mother. Meanwhile, Cassie's father and brother were wretched, and I wanted to reach through the book and punch them in the mouth every time they said something horrible, or thoughtless, to her. They were well written antagonists, and you could really feel their entitlement and their disdain for others. I hated them with a passion.
I really enjoy Carly's writing, and her couples fit well together. There's great chemistry, and she really makes you feel what they are feeling. The pace felt good, and I loved the easy banter and dialogue between both the 2 main characters, and between Derek and his friends/partners. You can really feel how much the guys love and care about each other. It's nice to see truly close male friendships in books, and not just female ones!
I would definitely recommend this book, and I'm very intrigued by the premise for book 4, Going In Deep. It will be quite the task to redeem Julian's character, as he was the villain of book 1! Looking forward to it!
ARC provided by Author in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Megan from Alpha Book Club
Going Down Hard is the 3rd book in the Billionaire Bad Boys series, and Derek is part of the trio of best friends who created a successful app-turned IPO, and he is now a billionaire. But, Derek comes from very humble beginnings. His mom was the maid, and his dad the gardener for a very wealthy family. He grew up in the guest house on their property. He was about the same age as their daughter Cassie, but of course they didn't run in the same circles. Also, he went to public school, and Cassie to private school. They crossed paths one night by the pool in the backyard, and he kissed her. He'd hoped for more, but something happened the next day to change his mind about her. Then they both left for college, and that was that.
Flash forward a decade or so, and Cassie is the editor of an online tech magazine, owned by her family's multimedia company, which isn't doing that well. She has been trying to interview many CEOs, and other important people in the tech industry to give her magazine a higher profile. Derek notoriously doesn't do interviews, but she's hoping she can get him to make an exception for her. He agrees, to see her and, of course, sparks fly again, as they had in the past. But, she's still surprised when he agrees to let her write her story. Even when it means shadowing him for a while. But no one is more surprised than Derek himself!
This was a bit of a second chance romance, since they knew each other before, though they were never really together in the past. I really liked their banter, and their chemistry felt really organic because of it. There were many misunderstandings between them from the past, but they moved through them like adults, after having an open communication. Imagine that! I really enjoyed that about them. They reacted to things like adults, and didn't jump to conclusions. There's nothing I hate more in a book than to feel that the entirety of the story's conflict could have been avoided with one simple conversation. There was none of that here.
I liked seeing the characters from the prior stories in the series. Also, I really enjoyed some of the side characters in this story, especially Derek's mother. Meanwhile, Cassie's father and brother were wretched, and I wanted to reach through the book and punch them in the mouth every time they said something horrible, or thoughtless, to her. They were well written antagonists, and you could really feel their entitlement and their disdain for others. I hated them with a passion.
I really enjoy Carly's writing, and her couples fit well together. There's great chemistry, and she really makes you feel what they are feeling. The pace felt good, and I loved the easy banter and dialogue between both the 2 main characters, and between Derek and his friends/partners. You can really feel how much the guys love and care about each other. It's nice to see truly close male friendships in books, and not just female ones!
I would definitely recommend this book, and I'm very intrigued by the premise for book 4, Going In Deep. It will be quite the task to redeem Julian's character, as he was the villain of book 1! Looking forward to it!
ARC provided by Author in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Megan from Alpha Book Club