Great read! Loved this story very much. The characters were and you felt every emotion along the way. The best part is this seemed liked a real story, not a cheesy one.

Michael Sebastian is in Curacao on his first real vacation since being demoted and screwed over by his partners. After five days on a tropical island, he still has not found someone that meets his standards for a one-nighter. Sure he has options to choose from, but he’s a bit particular. He’s not looking for the obvious submissive partner, nope, he’s looking for a man of power, a decision maker, the man no one would expect would bend over. As Sam Anderson walks into the bar, one look at his expensive suit and tense body and Michael knows that is the look of a man in need of serious release.

After a night of the best and most intense sex of his life with a gorgeous, dominant stranger, Sam has to pull himself together and return to the closet he has lived in for many years. Back to the corporate life and his new job as CEO of a failing technology company, only to discover that Michael is one of his employees.

While both are desperate for another night together, they know it’s a huge conflict of interest. Michael knows better than to get involved with his boss as well as with yet another man who can’t come to terms with who he is. Working together to save the company, however, their desire may just be too much to ignore.

Imagine you are on an island vacation, have sex with a complete stranger, and it’s just so right on so many levels. Then you return to work and that man is your new boss. Well, that’s what happens to Michael. And as he realizes this and his head is about to explode he thinks: Sam could not be his boss, not after Michael spent a night fucking and spanking the man. No way in hell.

And that’s only the middle of the second chapter.

I like Michael. He’s a good guy. Although he was a bit naive, he got a raw deal when his closeted lover and best friend screwed him over. He stayed on in a lower position because the company he helped found was everything to him. He’s good at his job and well respected by his peers, but avoids the suits that now run the business as much as he can. Sam is an interim CEO, his specialty is companies in trouble, and his frequent travel allows him to avoid relationships. Back in his college days he was out, but now he plays by the corporate rules and stays deep within the closet. Anyway, it’s safer in the closet, and he knows that all too well.

While reading this book I kept feeling like I was standing on the edge of what could have been a great book, but turned out to be just a good book. Takeover tries to be both a character driven story as well as a plot driven story, leaving neither side fully evolved.

The characters are only somewhat developed. We learn the story of Michael and his former business partners, but new information is offered at the end of the book that is not tied up or explained well. We know that Michael likes to dominate in the bedroom, has a bag of toys, and used to be part of the “scene.” We never get to learn or see any more of his experiences.

With Sam, we see hints of violence in his past and when his story all comes out, it lacked the impact it should have. And after many years of denying who he is, he decides Michael is the one that can change things for him. A good portion of the book Sam and Michael are not together and try to maintain emotional distance and a proper working relationship only to lose that fight in the company locker room. I was missing some more on page intimate time from them as they had great chemistry when they were together and would have had interesting stories to tell about their needs for dominance and submission. I liked both men and the few scenes we had with them exploring submissive play worked well, it just was not fully developed and was missing that little extra to pull it all together.

The takeover in the office plays into a large portion of the story as well. There is a shifty board of directors and a Ponzi scheme that Sam spends time researching, but it never fully plays out in the end. The writing itself was good, the shifting POV was well done, and the characters had so much potential. When the story was over, I was still just looking for more depth from both the characters as well as the plot.

I did like the style of Zabo’s writing overall. She has another book in the works, which she states is somewhat of a sequel to Takeover as both Sam and Michael appear in it, but the main focus is on another couple. It does have the sense of being more character focused and the excerpt offered has me looking forward to it. Takeover would be a good choice for likable characters mixed with the corporate world and a touch of submissive play.

Another hot, kinky read from Zabo! Zabo's books never disappoint and this one was no different. Coworkers to lovers with techie queer heroes and a little bondage fun? Yes, please!

I enjoyed this. I like both men, and I thought their interactions were interesting (and they had good chemistry). The plot was also intriguing, though it seemed to work out a little conveniently. Still, I enjoyed the romance (even though it was a little under-developed in terms of their characters; the chemistry was undeniable, but when it came to a realistic look at two people learning about each other's hearts and personalities, that aspect was kind of skimmed over). It was a quick and entertaining read.

3.75 this was my first Anna Zabo book. I love me some m/m so when I read the synopsis, I figured I would request this book.

Michael meets Sam in Curaco and had a hot one night affair. Michael whom seem to at place with the locals while trying to finish up his vacation to head back home to hit the shit storm that his company is in, when the sexy man with the suit played from and center. Sam just wanted to get away from the corporate world and be in his element. He is still "closeted". Little did both Michael and Sam know it wouldn't be the last time they would see each other.

Upon Michael's return, he has to deal with the aftermath of two bigwigs, when they hire a corporate raider, in the likes of Sam. Well let's just say, fireworks good and bad.

I totally understand Sam's apprehension for "coming out" having been burned before, but the back and forth with Michael was getting to me. Michael was all in, but he needed to save the company he built and was then taken from him, to still be in place.

Overall, a good quick read, I just wanted for Sam to "man" up sooner.

*An ARC was provided for an honest review.

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

3.5 stars

Takeover is the first book I have read by this author and I have mixed feelings as I felt it had its good and bad points.

There were several elements of this book i enjoyed:
-I was pulled in by the blurb of this book and found that I really liked the idea of this story. It is among the usual type of books that I go for and I love that it had the work/business element to it.
- I loved how at the start of the story the characters just got right down to it and to be honest it sort of made me go WOW as I was not expecting it. However it was a welcome surprise and kept me reading on wanting more :).
-I also didn't realise before starting this book that there was a BDSM element to it. This is something which I usually don't like in a book but I felt that on this occasion it was well done and I actually didn't mind it.
- I really liked the connection between the two MC'S and the fact that they faced a lot of realistic problems in their relationship as I found it helped me connect with them more.
-Morever I liked that despite the hot scene in the beginning, the characters romance wasn't instantaneous and that their relationship was built over time as they gradually got to know each other.

However there were several things that didn't sit well with me:
-Firstly the editing in copy of the book I received was basically non existent. I read the kindle version on both my iPhone/iPad and it was difficult to read at times due to the fact that the dialogue was often cut off in mid sentence and moved onto the next line. Therefore it took me longer than it normally would to finish it.
-There were times when I felt that the book was going just a little bit too slow. The sexy scenes were great but I felt that they were a bit slow and over descriptive in parts. The same could be said about some of the scenes discussing their business.
-The fact that Sam was constantly batting with the whole 'stay in the closet' kind of annoyed me in the end. I understand why the character had concerns but I just felt that it was dragged out and got a bit ridiculous in the end.
-The inner dialogue at times was a bit repetitive and I found myself skimming over some parts because of this. Also I would have liked to have seen much more conversation between the characters rather than just seeing their thoughts.
-I felt that the ending was a bit hurried and unfinished. It was more a HFN end than a HEA which is which I don't usually go for in a story like this. However I hope that their story will be picked up in another book in this series.

All in all this wasn't a bad read and I would like to read more of this authors work in the future.

A m/m romance with BDSM elements? Hell yeah! The two main characters being surprised to find they were then working together? Whoa, sign me up. But then, in the end, I found I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did.

For a lot of this novel, I felt as though it was a bias I held against characters who stayed in the closet for the majority in the book. Well before coming to the end, however, I found that was not the case. The fact that Sam lingered so long in the closet wasn't the problem so much as the repetition of this fact in place of plot. As in, there was none between when the characters found out they were going to be working together, and then the ultimately short blackmail plot at the end.

I would have liked both of these expanded and, honestly, the book had room for it.

The entire middle of this story was interspersed with kinky scenes that I found myself enjoying less and less because I just couldn't understand how Michael felt this attraction to Sam, especially after his recent history of his last boyfriend being in the closet.

This book had a lot of promise to it but, ultimately, the execution was a bit off for me

That was a very good, hot read. But it was not only that. From the first sentences one is intrigued to read on and doesn't get to be dissapointed.
The plot is interessting, the characters well rounded and with depth, they are not stereotypes or clichée.
The sex scenes support the plot and are really hot.
After I finished I went right to my bookseller and bought the second book in the series (and I wasn't dissapointed again!).