Fallen (Billionaires of Manhattan Book 1), by Natasha Grace

Publication: July 23, 2018

Fallen About the book:

After finding out that her husband of three years has been cheating on her, the only thing recently widowed Samantha Collins wants to do is to put her old life behind her. The first thing on the checklist? To sell her husband’s share of the hedge fund he started with his best friend.

Only Luke Darren has different plans.

More comfortable with running the day-to-day operations of the firm, Luke has always stayed in the background, letting Jason become the face of the company. But now that Jason’s gone, clients have been leaving in droves. The last thing he needs is for Samantha to leave as well. It would be the last straw for the customers who were already on the fence about pulling their money out and Luke couldn’t risk that.

But soon, working with Samantha is wrecking his concentration. He’s been in love with her for years and with Jason no longer in the way, being friends just isn’t enough and he soon finds himself wanting more!

Fallen is a stand-alone novel.

My Review:

Fallen is the debut romance novel from author Natasha Grace. Young widow Samantha Collins is returning to work at the hedge fund started by her late husband, Jason, and his partner and friend, Luke Darren. Between learning of her husband’s infidelity, trying to manage a friendship with Luke, and the pressure that the business is under since Jason’s death, Samantha decides she wants to sell out to Luke. But Luke has had feelings for Samantha for years and decides to take a chance on showing her a new side of him. Soon they find themselves trying to find a balance between his pressures at work, a growing friendship, and possibly much more.

I’ll start by saying that I appreciated a fresh idea in this contemporary romance, blending the world of stocks and finance into a romance! Samantha intelligent and caring, having several wonderful qualities despite losing her husband and then learning the truth about him afterward. However, I feel that Luke is definitely the shining star in this novel and that his character was much more developed than Samantha. Luke is professional, driven, and often, extremely stressed out regarding the backlash Jason’s death has had on the company. The fantastic thing about Luke in this novel is, the reader gets quite a treat watching him make changes and expand his life in ways not solely related to the company. Don’t get me wrong, he certainly has some bad moments, but overall, I think he rocked this novel.

Fallen’s overall plot was engaging and interesting, as were the subplots regarding Samantha and Luke’s own personal growth and developments. I was definitely hooked, wanting to know what would happen next regarding all aspects of the story. However, despite the unique setting of being in the hedge fund world, I found it tiresome at times. There are several segments of the novel providing back information about the company getting started, various roles and responsibilities, and various successes and failures that occasionally felt irrelevant. When the author was focused on the characters personally, the novel flowed wonderfully, but when things were focused on the business, I felt it was more of telling, rather than showing.

Back to less critical thoughts, I truly enjoyed this novel and look forward to future novels from this talented author. Hopefully, since there is a “book 1” in this title, there will be future installments of this series and I cannot wait to read more. Although technically a “billionaire” novel, Natasha Grace created a story that is relatable, a romance that was realistic, and characters that were likable and facing real-world problems just like anyone else. Congrats on this debut!

*Thanks to Natasha Grace for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest review.