Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂
Lauren Layne has been at the top of my Best of lists in the last few years and she keeps coming back with these heaters. I’m really loving everything that she’s putting out lately and I’m super excited to jump right into this one. Passion on Park Avenue is the first in a new romantic comedy series and this series is being promoted as more chick-lit than romance but I’m not mad about that. I will read anything this woman puts out.
Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren LayneSeries: The Central Park Pact #1
Also in this series: Passion on Park Avenue, Love on Lexington Avenue, Marriage on Madison Avenue
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:
From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.
For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.
The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them…
Filled with charm and heart and plenty of sex and snark, this entertaining series will hook you from the very first page.
Early reviews of this book are pretty decent so I’m stupid excited for its release. This is something fresh and new for Lauren Layne and I’m stoked to see what she does in the chick-lit but still romance genre. Check out an excerpt from this week’s Sunday Spotlight feature.
Excerpt
Oliver’s jaw clenched. He did not lose his temper often, but this woman was seriously pushing his buttons.
“Alright, I give up, Ms. Powell. What’s your deal?”
“My deal?”
“You’ve been eying my jugular since I walked in the door.”
He waited for her to deny it. Instead, she inspected her manicure. A deep navy, he noted, and not the demure pale pink or classic red he was used to seeing. And yet everything else, the expensive-looking dress, the brand-name handbag, the sleek hairstyle was expected, just like every other woman he knew.
But there was something else there—something more interesting that he couldn’t put his finger on. Almost like she was a blend of self-confidence and vulnerability all wound into one feisty, compelling package.
She was a contradiction.
Maybe Oliver didn’t need to start that jigsaw puzzle tonight after all. He had a hell of a puzzle right in front of him.
“You do realize that I’m the gate keeper to the next round,” he prodded again.
She craned her neck, pretending to look at his hands. “Oh, is there a ring I was supposed to kiss? I’m new to this whole process. Should I bow?”
There it was again. The flash of familiarity. Who was this woman?
“Have we met?” he asked, tossing the folder on the desk as he studied her.
She looked away, and Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “We have. How do I know you?”
Naomi looked back, her eyes guarded. “You don’t.”
“You sure?”
Instead of replying, she rewarded him with her first genuine smile. And damn, what a smile it was. Seductive and lethal all at the same time.
He was still reeling from its impact when she startled him by standing.
“We’re not done,” he said, then hid a wince at how pompous he sounded. How much like his father he sounded.
“Oh, I think we are,” she murmured. “I think we both know exactly what you’re going to write on my application the second I leave.”
“Yeah, we do,” he snapped, standing up too. “Left interview early.”
She glared up at him, and Oliver was a little surprised to realize that they were both breathing hard.
Naomi Powell wasn’t particularly short, but at six feet, he had the physical advantage. For the first time since he’d hit his growth spurt in high school, he relished his height. This perplexing woman got under his skin like nobody had in a long time, and he needed every defense he could get.
Just as he was gearing up for her retort—anticipating it—she turned away.
Oliver called after her. “You understand that I’m not going to recommend you for the next round of interviews, right?”
“No problem, Mr. Cunningham. And look on the bright side. With me gone, there’ll be more room for your emperor complex up in here. I’ll send your secretary in. You’re looking a bit overdue for your daily hand-feeding of grapes.”
Naomi Powell sailed out the office door without so much as a backward glance.
Oliver stood staring at the doorway, feeling somewhere between dumbfounded and off-balance. And most annoyingly of all …
Intrigued.
Giveaway Alert
We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.
Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!
I’m looking forward to My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding by Wendy Wax and Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne.
What a fun excerpt! I’d happily read on.
That was a very good excerpt. I’m looking forward to reading this and the next Lady Sherlock installment.
I always look forward to a new Lauren Layne book!
There’s a lot coming out this month that I’ve been looking foward to including : A Rogue by Night; The Rogue of Fifth Avenue; and A Lady of True Distinction which I started reading today!
Some May books I’m looking forward to are Patricia Briggs’ Storm Cursed & Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame.
FYI: Lauren Layne’s self-published book, The Prenup, is up on Amazon for pre-order. The plot sounds good.