Review & Excerpt: Prince Roman by CD Reiss
- KA
- Nov 10, 2017
- 7 min read
Gah!!! I've been so excited for this book. Below you'll find teasers, an excerpt and my review.
From NY Times Bestselling author, CD Reiss, love comes in the most ordinary and most forbidden places. Rules for my new job: 1) Do not have sex with a man in the office (again). 2) Do not break Rule #1 I’m playing it cool, clean, and professional…until I meet Roman Bianchi. He’s not an insecure nerd or an ego-hole like the other kings of Silicon Valley. He’s charming and handsome. He’s fun, funny, and smart. He’s also in the office across the hall. Two broken rules waiting to happen. I can’t lose this job over some guy. But Roman’s not just some guy. Under that suit and cocky smile, he’s a prince.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
I had her checkmated in four moves. We went best two out of three and she won a grueling second match. When she picked up the big pieces her hoodie hiked up and I could see her belly. When she kneeled down to pick up a pawn, her feet arched in her high heels with the most feminine curve I’d ever seen.
But the best part was watching her move between the pieces, thinking. Her eyes went from square to square, checking corners and seeing options. Playing the big chess set in the park was like opening up her mind and watching the gears turn.
“Have you ever done any climbing?” I asked, moving my bishop three spaces.
“Like what?” Her hair swung as she traced a line from the bishop I’d moved to the queen I was making a plan to capture. “Like mountains?”
“Yeah. Or rocks.”
“I’ve climbed trees. But not recently.” She moved her queen one space. “Check.”
“What?”
She pointed. My bishop had been protecting my king. When I’d moved it, she’d been ready.
A small girl with chocolate skin and a heart-printed down jacket stood on the edge of the board with her arms crossed, tapping her light-up sneaker. She looked to be about seven.
“Are you guys done yet?”
As if woken from a spell, I noticed the park had filled up. Kids yelped and squealed. The swings squeaked. The sun burned bright but not hot.
Raven had her hands on her hips. I thought she was going to yell at the kid for interrupting. I didn’t want her to. I hadn’t told the entire truth about my ex. She’d wanted to settle down, but she didn’t like kids. Nothing was less attractive than someone who wasn’t nice to children.
“He’s in trouble.” She pointed to me. “He’s in check, and as you can see”—she held her hand out to the board—“he’s dead meat in five moves. If you get him out of it, we’ll leave.”
“Five moves?” the girl said. “He’s got you in four!” She jumped onto the board and put her arms around a rook.
“Wait a minute!” Another little voice called from behind me. A boy this time. About the same age as my new partner. “If you move that he can’t castle, and she’s got him on en-eff-three.”
The girl put the rook down and stood next to the boy, looking the board over. I stood next to Raven and said softly, “Is this age appropriate?”
“This is what happens in a city full of geniuses.”
“En-eff-three,” the girl said. “En-see-six.”
“What are they even talking about?” I asked.
“I have no idea.” She leaned against me, and I put my arm around her.
REVIEW
Rating: 5 Stars
Raven Crosby is a smart woman looking for a fresh start with a new job. One where she hasn’t fraternized with a fellow co-worker. She starts work at a new company and they have a very strict non-fraternization policy, Raven only sees this as a bonus. She needs stability and this job is perfect, no way she’d risk it. But then she meets Roman Bianchi and everything changes. Roman has goals, he wants to make partner in the law firm he works for, which happens to be contracted at Raven's new workplace - a scandal won’t work for him and he’s not interested in dating. But from the moment he meets Raven, he is enamoured with her and just can’t help himself. Can they remain professional and resist how they feel or will they give in and let the cards fall where they will?
I love these 1,001 Dark Night novellas, they allow readers to find new authors that they might not have read or even heard of before and give existing readers the chance to see character stories that may never have come to light. When I heard CD Reiss was joining the family I was super excited, having read/ listened to a bunch of her books she is an automatic one-click for me and this book was no different. If you read my review of King of Code you know how much I adored that audiobook, the whole thing was amazing, Raven Crosby was a character in the book and she intrigued me; a woman in a man’s world that is sharp and witty and in control? – heck yeah, I liked her! So finding out she was getting her own book, even a novella was like catnip to this reader... if I was a cat. (Ok, not the best analogy, but whatever, you know what I mean!)
In the past, I’ve read novellas and it’s felt rushed and that parts were missing, and it kinda left me feeling a little meh about the whole thing. This does not happen with this book, it really feels like each chapter, each sentence, each word had to earn their keep. Although it’s a novella it’s a complete story and you never get the feeling like you are missing out on key elements of the story. I love that CD never dumbs things down for her readers, she treats them as intelligent people… because we are. If you read King of Code, you’ll know that book contained some technical talk and that is included in this novella, although not to the same extent and it doesn’t interfere with the flow of the story, not one little bit. It’s an office romance that you’re going to want to get your hands on and enjoy to the fullest. I usually get hit with a bunch of emotions when I’m reading or listening to a CD Reiss book and I gotta say, that happened again. I laughed out loud at some parts, swooned in others and yeah because she knows how to get to my hardened heart I even shed a couple of tears.
I adored these characters, well, apart from Marie, she’s a bitch… but you’ll have to read the book to find out why I think that. Raven is completely awesome, I love her so much. She’s smart, and sexy and kicks arse. She totally held her own when dealing with Roman and I loved that, she didn’t cower to him when she thought he had the upper-hand. Roman, sigh, he’s so dreamy. He knew what he wanted and set out to get it, whether that was the smart decision or not. He just couldn’t resist. He had such a sweet side to him that I wasn’t expecting. Which was such a pleasant surprise. He’s also dirty, so you know I loved that about him. I may have swooned on a number of occasions.
I loved the progress of Roman and Raven’s relationship. How the tension was so palpable, but they really tried to fight it… well, Raven did, at least. But ultimately, they couldn’t resist each other. I really liked that although it’s an office romance nothing much actually happens at the office, they’re completely professional until they leave the building and then it’s on, and boy is it on! Talk about steaming up a kindle, the sexy times were downright SEXY! Yes, I did need to use full capitalisation for that word, that’s how smoking hot it is. It’s not only going to make you hot under the collar but scorch that collar to high heaven. If you’ve read past reviews you’ll know I love banter between the characters, especially the couple and we get that with this book too. Which I was grateful for and it really gave Raven and Roman that edge of will they or won’t they in the beginning. It also allowed the reader to envision the friendship that bloomed as their feelings developed and that for me was awesome.
Side-note: You don’t have to read King of Code to read this book, it’s a complete standalone… but, but, but why wouldn’t you read it? It’s freaking awesome! Go meet Taylor and Harper!
Side-note 2: I am also super excited to listen to the audiobook. I’m itching to find out who the narrator(s) are going to be. I hope we’re not kept waiting too long. And, of course, I’ll be reviewing the heck out of that when the time comes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
C.D. Reiss is a USA Today bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up, she’s at the well, hauling buckets.
Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere, but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.
Critics have dubbed the books “poetic,” “literary,” and “hauntingly atmospheric,” which is flattering enough for her to put it in a bio, but embarrassing enough for her not to tell her husband, or he might think she’s some sort of braggart who’s too good to chop a cord of wood.
If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.
To connect with CD Reiss:
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