Thanks to netgalley for giving me the chance to read an e-copy of this book.

I loved the synopsis but unfortunately didn't like the book.

- The main characters were childish and so weak. The things over which they were fighting are silly as well.
- I didn't feel their chemistry at all. It was only lust, for me.
- Their conversations seems to be like of some immature teenagers who don't know how to talk straight or clear confusions, even after they became adults.
- For God's sake, give the female main character some self-respect.
- I found the story half-cooked. It was just jumping from here to there. Cliff-hanger ending was a cherry on the top.

Sorry to say but from the experience I've got, I'm not gonna read the 2nd book of this series.

The Protégé King is a childhood friends to enemies to lovers romance while also a fake dating (engagement) story. The main character, Alana, is a real estate reality TV show host who is trying to navigate a fake relationship with a man she used to love but had left her emotionally scarred. He, Damion, will be the next leading man if the business world once he can finally dismantle his father.

This book was just okay for me. It wasn’t the worst but it also wasn’t mind-blowing or even all that good in my opinion. It is also only part of a story arc as the author decides to end the book at an ill-placed cliff hanger before the story had gone anywhere at all. I realize she wants this to be a series but I believe that every book in a series should have some semblance of a climax and resolution. Instead, The Protege King is ended before a climactic point is even reached. And that, among other reason is why I wouldn’t recommend this book.

The story itself is a little murky. Damion needs Alana to pretend with him that they’re engaged solely to get on the good side of a business owner so that he can successfully complete a company merger. Alana only considers this due to some familial debts. She agrees even though she feels it’s a bad idea because of her and Damion’s dangerous lust for one another. I didn’t feel at all compelled by their need for a fake relationship. It felt like a very strange solution for the problem and was more to Damio’ns benefit to be around her than to help the merger at all.

The characters themselves were also very confusing, though I suppose real humans are confusing as well. They would seem resolved and determined about a decision in one moment a completely the opposite the next chapter. Alana promised herself she’d put up boundaries but then did nothing of the sort and let Damion walk right over her like he always has. Additionally, supporting characters were non-existant or not compelling. They filled a slot but didn’t add personality to the story. Alana’s friend, Sally, especially felt like a prop as she’s discarded close the beginning of the book. She was also made out to be the bad friend the one time she had the realistic emotions of disappointment and envy even though she was still supportive of Alana.

-some mild spoilers ahead-

Damion felt a bit annoying of a character for me. I’m not a huge fan of the “I’m not good for you” trope unless the guy is legitimately doing horrible things— which Damion wasn’t. He was trying to help and protect Alana while also unseating his tyrant father. The only negative things he had done was kiss Alana while dating someone else when he was a teenager. He’s also not very good at communication even when Alana asks him direct questions.

The sex in the book left much to be desired for an erotica novel. It felt more mechanical than anything and at any given point, the sex scenes lasted a mere paragraphs. It wasn’t descriptive or drawn out with tension. They just had sex and moved on. Also, it felt a bit strange that Damion’s go to move was immediately shoving his tongue in her mouth every time. Additionally, Alana mentioned her nipples puckering with the slightest arousal too much in her day to day dealings with Damion to be taken seriously. But who know, maybe that’s how the author generally feels arousal.

Overall, this book was 2.5 stars for me. I definitely would have preferred a longer and complete story arc, better sex, and stronger willed, more dynamic characters.

This was a quick read if you are looking for one. However, it ends on what I considered a dramatic cliffhanger. Damion and Alana's story was good. I enjoyed the cut chapters to the past that explains why is reacts the way she does to seeing Damion after 10 years. The heat each of then feel for each other is writing well. You can feel the unspoken love and bond they hold over each other. Excited to see where this story goes. Far as a spicy romance, I would give it a two. The storyline is a 4 and drives you to keep reading.

REVIEW- PROTEGE KING BY LISA RENEE JONES
I liked the synopsis, unfortunately I didn't like the book. I didn't get enough of either of the characters; Alana and Damion. I didn't even feel the chemistry between them. There was no side characters to like. The fake dating scheme that I thought would be the main plot of the book only occurred in the last chapters
👫🏼👫🏼
Although I didn't really like this book, I was still able to finish it.

This had the bones of a good story. For me it wasn’t quite executed the right way.

The characters felt a little surface level and the timeline was a bit unclear to me at times. But the storyline was intriguing and the tension between the 2 main characters was pretty good.

A little more editing and this could have been really good, and I think the story itself could have been expanded more. But it was a decent, quick read!

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a fun way read! Lots of tropes including friends to enemies lovers, fake fiancee, billionaire dirty business. The spice in this gets 4 chili peppers!!

It ends on a cliffhanger - and I'm pulled in enough to want to know what happens next!

Hey Book Besties!

Ok I’ll be honest, I read this book cuz the blurb sounded amazing and fun. Friends, to enemies, to lovers. One of my FAVES!! But I wasn’t the hugest fan of the execution of the story. You have one chapter of current day then over half of the book is a flashback but the history isn’t fully explained. Ugh!! Then the main characters just seemed shallow and childish with little to no true depth.
ALSO THE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END like y’all, I didn’t like this book enough to read any sequels 🤦🏻‍♀️
ANYWHO thanks for reading, off to finish another book I’ve been getting through slowly bc of scheduling 🙃

I really liked this story! The time jumps were a little confusing at the beginning but by the end I couldn't put this book down! Sweet and spicy with a cliffhanger ending that hit me like a runaway train! I can't wait for the sequels to this story! Highly recommend!

I thought that this book was great and I really enjoyed it!

The characters were great, I loved their interaction and the author’s writing style made you feel as you were there with them – it was very well written and an easy one to read, this is the first book in a series and it sets the scene very well and I can't wait to read the next book now!

The book had romance, sexy and strong-willed characters and an additive plot

It is 4 stars from me for this one – highly recommended and a great start to a new series!

I really enjoyed this book, a second chance/childhood friends to lovers, such and easy read, but it was left on a cliffhanger, I can’t wait to read the second one

I loved the characters and the plot. This was a very easy read. Love how the characters came together.

“You can spread my legs, Damion, but you will never own me.”
“I already own you. You just don’t know it yet.”

Okay so this book has the second chance/childhood friends to lovers tropes. I did not expect to like it so much but the tropes were really surprising which captured my attention! Damion & Alana always belonged together and their connection everytime they met again was undeniable. I liked both of their characters. Alaba was strong yet vulnerable while Damion was mysterious and protective. The one thing I did not like though was how easily Alana caved in and forgave Damion everytime he did something wrong. Plot wise, the book was predictable but I enjoyed reading it regardless. I wish I knew it's a duet first because I guess the next book comes out in May 2024, I don't know how am I going to wait for that long. I'm intrigued to see what happens next after the cliffhanger this book left off on.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

2 Stars! WARNING! Book has a Cliffhanger ending!
I didn’t love this one. Both the main characters were kinda childish. It’s called communication people, try it! This is the first book in the ‘Wall Street Empire’ series and CAN NOT be read as a standalone. If there is one thing I really can’t stand, it’s a book ending with a cliffhanger. They should be illegal! If I’d known this had a cliffhanger ending, I wouldn’t have read it. The main characters were besties growing up but then for some reason, they don’t talk for 3 years & then 10 years. Why?! Freakin talk instead of just jumping all over each other, then not talk for years. A lot of lust, not really any love. It sounded like a really interesting story, but didn’t come together the way I’d hoped. It could be a great read with a few tweaks.
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

Damion and Alana
They were best friends, never to be boyfriend and girlfriend; yet desire heated both their bodies and souls from past through present.
The pair meet up again after many years apart and Alana agrees to be Damions fake fiancé in a hope to seal a deal between two business which would rule his father out of all business for future.
I love this author. There’s always a romance behind every story and always a good story behind it.
I must admit I didn’t like the cliff hanger- I want more now please.
Look forward to reading the next book

What can I say, I LOVED this book! It gave me all the feels! I can't wait to read book 2 of this series. I'm the mean time going to check out other books from this author.

Alana and Damion grew up together in an affluent neighborhood in Jersey. Her parents were in high end real estate and were always worried about outward appearances. His father was a ruthless businessman who was grooming Damion to follow in his footsteps. Although they were "platonic" best friends, Alana always held a bit of a torch for Damion, and each time she thought he might feel the same, he would disappear from her life leaving her heartbroken. Alana was destined for law school but had to change career paths when her father's gambling issues waylaid her plans. Damion walks back into her life needing her help, but Alana's unsure whether she can risk her heart again if he should disappear out of her life again. The story ends on a cliffhanger so I can't wait to see if she's able to help him pull off the feat that could ultimately lead to their future happiness together!

Second chance romance, count me in!! This book was a very easy read, I loved and hated both the characters. Childhood friends to lovers to enemies, to lovers again, this was so back and forth through the whole book, I just wanted to grab them and force them to sit down, be honest and talk to each other.

I want to say that they were the right person at the wrong time, but I truly think they were always the right people, but just need to be honest with each other. So much could have been avoided if they were honest. I enjoyed this read, there were areas that I wish the author developed more but overall it was a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this ARC. I have added a new author to my list.

This book was great! I would love to read more due to it ending on a cliffhanger. The connection I had to these characters was crazy, especially since it's not even 200 pages. I would love to get a physical copy!

I actually pretty excited to read this book and when Netgalley granted me the access to read it i’m so so can’t wait to start. Sadly tho, it didn’t really able to deliver what it’s promises. I feel like the back and forth between the now and flashbacks timeline were quite confusing and the characters also lack of nuance, backbone and personality. It’s not that bad for sure, bad i think it’s understandable because it’s quite a short book so the author didn’t really have time to create a strong foundation for the plot and the development imo.

DNF, I find that this book was lacking. I could not understand some of the situations that happened in the book. I wish that this book was longer and really led up to their "re-meet-cute". I would have loved if the past wasn't in the second chapter of the book and lasted for several chapters. I honestly thought that this was a debut writers book because of the misspelled and misplaced words. It didn't really capture my attention in the first couple of chapters and lasted for as long as I read it. Upon doing some more research I found this book on Radish Fiction, which made sense on why I did not like the read.

No offense to anyone who likes those books!