Hello everyone!
Tonight's book isn't an exception, either.
The book officially releases this Saturday, so in two days, on May 31st, but I'm super super lucky enough to be part of Ms Woods' ARC team, which means I get it a little bit earlier.
I sat down for two afternoons in a row this week to read through it, and man oh MAN, are these going to be such good romances again.
Not that they ever AREN'T, I don't think I've really stumbled across a book of hers that I truly disliked.
Maybe I had quibbles with some, but dislikes? Not really, not ever.
So without further ado, let's hop straight into this next series starter (oh yes, it's definitely going to be a series) and see what it's all about in Midnight Enemy.
Midnight Enemy is the first of The Midnight Club Billionaires, which is exactly what it says it is: a group of billionaires who've come together to form a group and then make decisions regarding where they'll funnel their enormous wealth and which charities would benefit from it.
Orson Cavendish, the hero of this story, is one member of this club, and he's sent to negotiate the purchase of a plot of land that lies between that of the Midnight Club, and a commune next door which doubles as a resort where women and children who've suffered through abuse can escape to.
This is where we meet Scarlett.
Opposite to Orson in pretty much almost every way, Scarlett has just lost both parents in rapid succession, and can't believe the vultures are already circling around the sacred healing waters that the whole land dispute is over.
Orson apologizes, saying that he thought he'd be meeting with the commune Elders rather than her, specifically, and eventually convinces her to listen to his proposal, which she dislikes on principle, and so he discards it.
Learning more about the commune itself, he cooks up a very different strategy, as he's an astute businessman with an IQ one point higher than Einstein's, which is that the land should be placed into a trust and overseen by the lot of them, with the side that borders the club finally getting some of the renovations he's been talking about, and also some safety measures that are just ... well.
Considering during their second meeting Scarlett slips and falls straight into the waterfall, after arguing how nothing needed to be changed, you can tell Orson has a point.
He's also immediately and immensely attracted to Scarlett, and she to him, and he discovers VERY early on - and very much on the nose, too - that she's still a virgin, which shocks him as well as has him put on the breaks at least a little bit.
He IS a gentleman, after all, and while Scarlett keeps coming up with more and more reasons why they wouldn't work out even if they TRIED to date properly, Orson cooks up more and more for why they WOULD.
And he asks her out on an official date, while he's at it.
Which happens to coincide with her birthday, that she didn't tell him about, but they do enter into some sort of a relationship then, both sexual as well as otherwise intimate.
The commune Elders want Scarlett to convince Orson to buy the property for more than he initially offered, and she feels incredibly dirty for even contemplating it, but he tells her he's definitely buying to take the pressure off her, which then leads them to have several future dates while Scarlett is still protesting up and down.
Equally, Orson does get into an altercation with the commune finance manager, George, who insinuates Scarlett opened her legs and got Orson to cough up the money, which I thought was on point.
Nobody insults a woman like that and walks away from it!
However, Orson's father is a different cup of tea entirely, as Spencer Cavendish seems to be taking the feud he had with Scarlett's father Blake further on, and Orson has no idea what the problem is, which all comes to a head during a birthday party at the club where Scarlett meets some of the other Midnight Club members.
She reveals that she knows more about the past than she let on, and eventually Spencer tells Orson what happened: which is, that he and Blake went to school together, Spencer met Scarlett's mother first, but Blake came in and basically stole her right out from under his nose, after which things soured between them.
It went even further because when the mom developed breast cancer, Blake didn't have the funds to pay for the most expensive treatment which could have saved her, and turned down Spencer's offer to fund the treatment because ... pride, I suppose.
Shaken, Orson nevertheless at least knows some of what happened in the past, which is when his best friend Rangi starts conducting the audit of the commune finances, because the point of the story for most of the book is that the commune has to sell the land because it's struggling.
It quickly becomes evident why.
George wants to take the fall but, as Orson patiently explains to a shocked Scarlett, it was actually her father who was stealing money from parts of the commune, probably to try and finance his wife's cancer treatment. George confronted him about it, which led to an argument that spiked the man's heart attack, and that unfortunately buried him.
It turns out Blake hasn't stolen for the first time, either, as Spencer told Orson that the same thing happened during a start-up project they were on together, because Blake thought that the ends justified any means, while Spencer, coming from a poor family who'd been separated into foster homes, believed that every person should pave their own way honourably.
Scarlett is in shock, but Orson holds her through these revelations, and Spencer apologizes for being an ass earlier. The couple decide to take it one date at a time, though Orson does point out he'd love to buy a place together with her somewhere midway between the commune - which will be switching to a different community and having more financial oversight now - and his place of work, so they can have their privacy but also still do what they both love.
To finish the book off, Scarlett gifts Orson a puppy, as he's a massive dog person who lost his beloved companion when an idiot ran him off the road on his motorcycle, causing the death of the dog and pain for Orson both physically and mentally.
But all's well that ends well, they say, and that's where the book wraps!
This it's an explosive beginning to what I believe will be yet another hit series by this author.
Orson is likeable, charming, if a bit arrogant, but we meet him at 27 so I feel like there's room to file off the sharper edges.
Scarlet is not one of my favourite heroines, although I like her more than Elizabeth from the other Billionaires series (Huxley's wife, natch). However, while one can argue her naivete and stubborness come from her sheltered life, my reasons for giving her the side-eye is how uncompromising she is - and remains. Orson does all the work in this relationship, IMO, and she barely meets him halfway, instead throwing verbal darts and resisting any compromise at all until he's the one who bends for the most part. However, again, she IS only 24, and is written consistently, so I can't complain there.
The plot reveals some surprises that turn your expectations upside down, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I like that it isn't all straightforward!
We also get introduced to more Midnight Club members, and Orson's father gets to step into the spotlight next, which I'm very excited about. If there's anyone who can truly do an age gap romance brilliantly, it will be Serenity Woods. I have a feeling that, like Orson, Spencer Cavendish is hiding a volcanically colourful personality, and I can't wait.
As always, big BIG thank you to Miss Woods, and truly, I encourage you to read this series beginning and judge Orson and Scarlet for yourself Immerse in the beauty of New Zealand and the graceful writing, bask in the happily ever after, and enjoy!
Orson is likeable, charming, if a bit arrogant, but we meet him at 27 so I feel like there's room to file off the sharper edges.
Scarlet is not one of my favourite heroines, although I like her more than Elizabeth from the other Billionaires series (Huxley's wife, natch). However, while one can argue her naivete and stubborness come from her sheltered life, my reasons for giving her the side-eye is how uncompromising she is - and remains. Orson does all the work in this relationship, IMO, and she barely meets him halfway, instead throwing verbal darts and resisting any compromise at all until he's the one who bends for the most part. However, again, she IS only 24, and is written consistently, so I can't complain there.
The plot reveals some surprises that turn your expectations upside down, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I like that it isn't all straightforward!
We also get introduced to more Midnight Club members, and Orson's father gets to step into the spotlight next, which I'm very excited about. If there's anyone who can truly do an age gap romance brilliantly, it will be Serenity Woods. I have a feeling that, like Orson, Spencer Cavendish is hiding a volcanically colourful personality, and I can't wait.
As always, big BIG thank you to Miss Woods, and truly, I encourage you to read this series beginning and judge Orson and Scarlet for yourself Immerse in the beauty of New Zealand and the graceful writing, bask in the happily ever after, and enjoy!
xx
*image not mine
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