Funny, steamy romance…

Mia had a flourishing business which Ethan wanted and the battle was on…
If these two didn’t have such bad luck I may not have laughed as hard as I did. From every day oops to wild, this never happens, kind of stuff, nothing was going their way. Mia and Ethan stumbled, tripped and fell as they slowly but surely found their way to each other. Physically and all ways that matter.

How did I not find this author earlier? I loved the writing style, the storyline and the characters. Both workaholics, they were drawn to each other almost against their will and that made for a wonderfully bumpy courtship. They were strangers who became lovers. Lovers who became enemies. Enemies who couldn’t help but be lovers. It was a dizzying ride and each step was full of laughter and increasing intimacy. From a bachelorette party that was g-stringed rather than g-rated, to an outpouring of their inner fears and emotions (which totally got me) I enjoyed it all!

This book opens with Mia Diaz running late for a party and because of different problems in her apartment she finds herself on a ledge outside of her apartment telling herself that she can make the jump from the ledge to the tree in order to get to the sidewalk. Well she does not make it, but she does land into or onto Ethan Burke who is the master of take overs. He had been watching her and was enthralled with her and wants to be with her. What he does not know was that she made an agreement to be with the next man she fell into. What happens next is a multitude of things, she does not make the party, she leaves in the morning only to find out hours later he is the man who has been sending her letters wanting to buy her out and she has been saying no to. That is when he begins to pursue for the rest of the day and wants to be with her and wants to make things right. This is a funny and fast paced book with some very good moments as well. A good book.

Good book. Mia and Ethan burned up the sheets. The relationship started on a dare and until she found out he was the jerk trying to buy out her jewelry company. He was wildly attacted to her and struggled to reconcile the two different things. I've read several of this author's books and am never disappointed. I got this book from NetGalley for an honest review

Review by Leah for Love Romance Books Blog

I was asked by the author for an honest review.

4 Stars!

This charming book had me in tears from laughing on multiple occasions. I love how the story begins for both of the main characters. Basically it seems that is anything can go wrong, it will, and the universe is against them. Of course, good thing can come out of even the worst series of events. Lumia, by turns "Mia" or "Lu", is a successful jewelry designer and business owner. She built her business from nothing and is so successful that she really only advertises by word of mouth. Enter Ethan Burke, successful businessman in his own right. A self made man who acquires small businesses in order to help them achieve their full potential. They get off to a bad start when he tries to acquire her store and she flat out refuses to engage with him. Now, thanks to a dare by her bestie, she's kissing a complete stranger.

The series of misunderstandings and misconceptions are hilarious! Mia is an independent woman with a soft center afraid to open herself up. Ethan is a headstrong man who seems to have the world at his feet. Both have to look inside themselves to see what they truly need/want. I loved the interactions between Mia and Ethan. It was easy to put myself in Mia's place in the opening scene as I've had days where I'm by turns clumsy and accident prone. The writing progressed nicely from beginning to end, although I would've liked more to the ending. It seemed to end a little too easily. The epilogue was a great addition! I love getting another glimpse into the characters a bit further down the road.

Ethan Burke wants to buy Mia Diaz's jewelry store and won't take no for an answer. However, contacting her has proven fruitless, so Ethan decides to confront Mia in person. Yet, when Mia discovers that the man she spent an incredible night with is the same man wanting her business, she's furious. Still, she finds it difficult to stay away from him. Will Ethan be able to win Mia over or do Mia's past demons have too great a hold on her to ever put her trust in another man again?

Never mix business with pleasure may be a good rule for some people, but for this couple it's a good thing they didn't adhere to the rule. Really, because they are good together once they get past all the obstacles they face to be together including whether Mia can put her trust in another man and whether Ethan can realize why pushing Mia to sell is a bad thing. The way this story started had me liking the hero immediately, as he's an astute businessman determined to go after what he wants and won't let anything stand in his way. However, it was from the moment the hero and heroine meet that had me smiling for the first time in this story, as Mia decides the dare her friend has challenged her with might be worth doing, especially since she's all work and no play.

As for the dialogue, it was intense due to the main characters back stories, which has led them to be the resilient and hard-working people they are. It was also intense due to the fact that these two are enemies and Mia isn't going to change her mind just because Ethan is arrogant and used to getting what he wants. Will Ethan find a way to win Mia over? Furthermore, I really liked both the main characters and I loved that Mia stands up to Ethan while at the same time can't resist the powerful chemistry between them.

With the heroine, she's remarkable and has overcome so much after what her ex did to become the successful businesswoman she is. No way will she let another man take something from her. I also liked that the heroine gave Ethan a chance, even though he's the enemy. While the hero, he's driven, arrogant, smart and I liked how determined he was to win the heroine over, even if he has to engage the secondary characters in her family to get close to her. Yet, what I liked most of all about the hero is that he didn't give up on getting what he wants most because Mia has come to mean everything to him.

Overall, Ms. Di Lorenzo has penned another really good read for this series where the romance was fan-your-face hot and had me liking this couple together; and the ending had me worried for this couple's happy ever after because of something Ethan does, but had me liking that Mia was willing to forgive him. Then again, what he does to prove her business is safe from him was heart-warming. Talk about a grand gesture. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up nicely because of the confession the hero had for the heroine, which proves how far Ethan was willing to go to win Mia's heart. I would recommend Until Dawn by Melinda Di Lorenzo, if you enjoy the enemy to lovers trope or books by authors Geri Krotow, Kira Archer, Naima Simone and Cathryn Fox.

A dare gets quickly out of hand as Mia Diaz finds herself falling for the handsome man she finds out is her enemy, business-wise. Yet she can't forget their night together. Can she find the courage to trust him - and herself - to be happy?

I liked the quirkiness of how Mia & Ethan met and how spontaneity guided their subsequent actions. I also liked how they couldn't get enough of each other!

I enjoyed this next installment in this series, and look forward to the next story.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an ARC of this book, which I received via NetGalley.

Ethan liked doing his job behind his desk . He has had bad luck since he left his office. Mia was a thorn in Ethan’s side. She had forced him to leave Toronto in the first place. After making an initial contact three weeks ago then getting a flat out rejection of Ethan’s office. He’d tried dozens of times to get in touch with her. A less determined person - less successful businessman - might have let go. But Ethan saw it as a challenge. Ethan’s company was Burke’s Holdings. - it was the third largest distributor of unique handmade products in Canada. Ethan’s focus group told Ethan they would be willing to pay three times as much for the personally designed items that Mia offered in her store Trinkets and Treasures. Mia was supposed to be at her brother Marecelo’s pre-wedding, pre rehearsal, pre insanity dinner with her brother and his groomsmen and bridesmaids. Mia had created a phony disaster at work to avoid the dinner. Mia hated weddings. Mia needed to make sure her reputation as a designer was good. But then Karma stepped in and Mia ended up with no computer, no phone, and no lights. The only choice was the window as her office was locked up already. Then somehow Liv Holt- fellow bridesmaid- voice came out of Mia’s broken phone. In their conversation Mia said she didn’t do casual and then Liv dared her to kiss the next attractive man who Mia seen she had to kiss. Then Mia fell onto Ethan arms and eventually they kissed. Mia decided to keep their names a secret and use nicknames and they decided to go to a hotel close by and spend the night for a sizzling one night stand. Then Ethan found out who Mia was and when Mia finds out who Ethan is she wants nothing to do with Ethan.
I liked this book it was just a fun fast read. I couldn’t understand what Ethan’s big company wanted Mia’s small company. . I felt his did have a good plot. I did chuckle at times while reading this. I did feel the ending was a little rushed/. I didn’t feel this was realistic things just happened to fast but then again it is a fiction book. I did enjoy how Mia and ethan interacted with each other. I do advise you to read the first book in this series to help keep characters straight and events. I liked the characters and the ins and outs and I recommend.

Fun, sexy romcom

This is the first book I've read Melinds DiLorenzo and she surpassed my expectations.
Mia"Lu" and Ethan were wonderfully constructed characters. The plot captured my attention from the beginning to Mia and Ethan's HEA. The secondary characters were interesting and brought out multiple dimensions of Mia and Etham's personalities.
I strongly recommend this book if you are looking for an amusing sexy story.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

I liked the book and how the blurb drew me in! Ethan runs a company that scoops up small businesses under a larger umbrella corporation thereby offering better supply chains, sales, and shipping avenues. Having his latest proposed acquisition shoot him down flat, is unheard of. Calling himself a master negotiator, Mia and her jewelry company has him stumped. He decides an in person talk is warranted.

After a hilarious chain of events, a woman literally drops from a tree into his arms! Feeling the sparking electricity between them mounting, they opt for a sizzling one night stand.

Things go haywire when Ethan finds out the woman he spent the night with is Mia- the owner of the jewelry company he wants to acquire. He is determined to change her mind, but she wants nothing to do with him. He lied about who he was, and Mia feels manipulated. She has zero intention of selling her business to him. But her body keeps betraying her!

I liked how the story started out and evolved. What was hard to understand is what a multi-millionaire would want with a small jewelry designer and her store? It felt kind of odd. He kept pressing her and she kept resisting....and then they would spend the night together. Then we would start the cycle over once more. It felt a bit repetitive after awhile. Of course there are a lot of miscommunication and preconceived notions to wade through. Once we get to the end, it felt a bit rushed and anticlimactic. I just was expecting more I guess. I expected them both to work a bit more for what they wanted and this seemed to wrap up a little too neatly.

reviewed by Deb

I thought the premise of the book was good: Ethan runs a company that buys up small businesses and helps them to run more efficiently and increase sales. He’s set his sights on a jewelry designer who runs a successful business selling her wares and other trinkets in Vancouver. But she just won’t agree to sell her business. So he’s decided to travel to Vancouver and convince her to sell. After a series of rather slapstick events that have him walking in the rain, he sees a woman who is dropping out of a window and who lands on him. Mia has experienced her own slapstick mishaps that left her locked out of her business and having to try to climb down in the rain. She and Ethan are attracted to each other and end up having a hot one-night stand.

Except when he finds out that Mia is the stubborn woman who is refusing to sell to him. He’s determined to change her mind and wouldn’t mind sleeping with her again. But she’s furious and they have all the misunderstandings to work through before they can reach their HEA.

What I didn’t buy was that such a supposedly cut-throat businessman would be so driven to buy a local jewelry and trinkets store. No matter how successful it was, is that really what venture capitalists are looking for. We learn later that he established his business because he wanted to help small-business owners get ahead. Well, if that is his goal, why does he want to purchase a successful company when the owner doesn’t need or want to sell? It all felt too contrived and too unbelievable. So we have this artificial plot interspersed with hot sex that she keeps regretting afterwards. It wasn’t an enjoyable pattern.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

5-star read!!! This is absolutely my kind of book! I started reading it and didn't put it down until I was finished. This is a new author to me and now I'm on a search for everything she's written. Until Dawn is a standalone but after having read it, I wish I would have read After Hours because now I want to know all about Aysia and Marc, but you absolutely don't have to read it first because I didn't and I know I'll enjoy After Hours just as much. Aysia and Marc's characters appear in Until Dawn, but it doesn't lessen your enjoyment at all-at least it didn't for me! Mia/Lu and Ethan's characters are well developed and the smoldering intensity between these two burns up the pages! It's a great storyline based on a dare--no fluff and fill-in like some romances these days. If you like an excellent storyline, sassy and witty dialogue, steamy sexy characters, then you'll love this book! I heartily recommend it! I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.