Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary finished copy and the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own. SYNOPSISOne night wasn’t enough. Danny Ip walks into every boardroom with a plan. His plan for struggling tech company WesTec is to acquire it, shut it down, and squeeze the last remaining revenue out of it for his Jade Harbour Capital portfolio. But he didn’t expect his best friend's younger brother—the hottest one-night stand he ever had—to be there. Tobin Lok has always thought the world of Danny. He’s funny, warm, attractive—and totally out of Tobin’s league. Now, pitted against Danny at work, Tobin might finally get a chance to prove he’s more than just Wei’s little brother. It takes a lot to get under Danny’s skin, but Tobin is all grown up in a way Danny can’t ignore. Now, with a promising patent on the line and the stakes higher than ever, all he can think about is getting Tobin back into his bed—and into his life for good. If only explaining their relationship to Wei could be so easy… Jade Harbour Capital Book 1: Hard Sell Book 2: Going Public MY REVIEWSibling’s best friend is one of those tropes that really gets to me in a good way so Hudson Lin’s Hard Sell’s synopsis had me eager to dive in. Danny Ip is a private equity investor who visits a tech start up so he can make his offer. When he arrives he realizes that Tobin Lok, one of his closest childhood friends & also the brother of his best friend, & *also* the man he hooked up w/ 7 years ago & hasn’t talked to since, is working w/ the company as a consultant instead of a potential buyer. Danny knows that nothing can happen between himself & Tobin. Nothing. Can. Happen. *pause for smooching. Simply put, there are some things that work & don’t work for me about this read. The chemistry between Danny & Tobin is intense & the ways they’re also tender & nurturing are lovely. There’s a real sense for me that they’re special to each other & that their bond is both enhanced by their long history together but that they both respect each other now (thanks to Alexandria Bellefleur’s Hang the Moon for helping me see that part of this trope in a new way). But some aspects of the way the sibling’s best friend trope are done here don’t totally work for me. It’s a little strange how Danny refers to Tobin in his head at the beginning of the book. Maybe “kid” or trying to think of Tobin as a sibling are distancing mechanisms but also Danny hooked up with him 7 years ago so I think that ship has sailed... In addition—& this is something I’ve benefited from in reading other people’s commentary on the trope—Tobin’s brother’s extreme agitation at their relationship doesn’t feel fully nuanced to me. I needed more from that storyline if that’s the direction this trope is going in. & in general, some of the humor just doesn’t work for me. The backstories are engaging, I rooted for both leads, & I definitely wanted their HEA. Moreover, I’m really looking forward to checking out another read from Lin; I just have some quibbles with this one. 3.5 ⭐️ . Release date: 5/25.CW: ABOUT THE AUTHORHudson Lin was raised by conservative immigrant parents and grew up straddling two cultures with often times conflicting perspectives on life. Instead of conforming to either, she has sought to find a third way that brings together the positive elements of both. Having spent much of her life on the outside looking in, Lin likes to write stories about outsiders who fight to carve out their place in society, and overcome everyday challenges to find love and happily ever afters. Her books are diverse romances featuring queer and disabled people of color. When not getting lost in a good story, Lin hosts a podcast, interviews queer people of color, and a does bunch of other stuff. Connect with the Author Website: https://www.hudsonlin.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hudsonlinauthor Twitter: https://twitter.com/hudsonlinwrites Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hudsonlinwrites/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17681173.Hudson_Lin Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-Lin/e/B07B6RKS72 Thanks for joining me on my stop! To see more of my bookish adventures, you can follow me here.
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