REVIEW OF SLAY ONE: RIVALRY BY LAURELIN PAIGE

Date: 09 August 2019
By: Daily Madhu





The Slay Quartret is a spinoff of the Fixed Trilogy. This book can be read without prior reading of the Fixed Series, though it is highly recommended to read the other books if you want clarity.

The blurb is as follows:

Edward Fasbender is a devil.

He's my father's business rival, a powerful, vicious man who takes what he wants and bows to no one. I only took the meeting because I was curious. I thought he was going to offer me a job.

But that's not what he's after at all. His proposal is much more intriguing, and I see an opportunity. An opportunity to turn the tables and bring down the devil.

I've gotten in trouble playing these games before. I know when the risk is too great, when the stakes are too high. I know how to be cold and strong-willed and destructive. I know how to withstand dominant men with arrogant charm and rugged features.

Yet I can't resist taking on Edward.

And I can't resist the pull he has on me.

Soon I'm not so sure which side of the battle I'm standing on--if I'm the warrior meant to slay,

Or the one who will be slain.

Slay is Book One in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author, Laurelin Paige, next dark and edgy series.

Review:

Celia Werner is a self proclaimed trust fund baby, a socialite and an heiress. She also has her own interior design company that is barely making enough to pay expenses.
Edward Fasbender is a calculating, driven and monomaniacal owner of a multibillion-dollar company.
Slay is about what happens when these two people cross paths.

For the uninitiated who haven't read The Fixed Trilogy, Celia has always been pressurized by her family to pursue a relationship with her childhood friend, Hudson Pierce. He comes from an affluential family like hers and was supposed to be 'The One' for her. She did like him but she never imagined herself ending up with him. He taught her how to play 'The Game', taught her to feel nothing, to be nothing.
The majority of Celia's time and energy was spent on playing 'The Game.' Now that Hudson is happily married with a baby on the way, she felt alone as there was no one who would understand her.
Enters Edward, the biggest competitor of Celia's father, with a proposal for her.
It is quite evident that she is attracted to him, but the influence of The Game is so ingrained in her that she refuses to feel any emotion. It was so amusing to see poor Celia fighting her feelings for Edward. It was clear that she was smitten with him and found him gorgeous.
First half of the book, the hero is the main pursuer while the table turns in the second half.
Celia and Edward are both using each other and while this book is perfectly well written, I did feel that it was lagging at times. There was no big drama or anything, but I suppose since this is a quartret, it will come in the next books.
In Fixed Trilogy, Celia was the antagonist that everyone loved to hate. While her bitchiness has simmered down considerably in this book, we do get a glimpse of her manipulative ways every now and then.
I liked that the author kept her original personality and her shortcomings instead of just turning her into a goody two shoes heroine. Even though she claims that she was doing it all for her own benefit, we do see a huge character development in her and she is willing to get down from her ego trip for the sake of her conservative husband.
Edward is domineering but not exceedingly so. He is a traditionalist and extremely patriarchal.
While I might be a feminist in real life, in book world, I do love heroes who just take charge and know what they are doing.
Alas, Edward has all these qualities and so he will definitely qualify for my Favorite Book Boyfriend List.
Without giving any spoilers, I would say that the author has laid down a good framework and the next books will definitely be bang on.
Though not a major one, there is a cliffhanger at the end of this book that has me waiting excitedly for the next book.
To end this review, I will say that definitely give this book a try. I am sure that you won't be disappointed.
The chemistry between the main characters was spot on. The book has definitely set a high level for it's successors.
I wanted more of the interactions between Celia and Edward's children, so I hope that the author has that covered in the next books.
I would like to give this book a solid FOUR STARS

⭐⭐⭐⭐




About the Author

With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. Her international success started with her very first series, the Fixed Trilogy, which, alone, has sold over 1 million copies, and earned her the coveted #1 spot on Amazon’s bestseller list in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, simultaneously. This title also was named in People magazine as one of the top 10 most downloaded books of 2014. She’s also been #1 over all books at the Apple Book Store with more than one title in more than one country. She’s published both independently and with MacMillan’s St. Martin’s Press and Griffin imprints as well as many other publishers around the world including Harper Collins in Germany and Hachette/Little Brown in the U.K. With her edgy, trope-flipped stories of smart women and strong men, she’s managed to secure herself among today’s romance royalty.






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