VILLAIN
by New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young
Releasing December 5th 2017
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Blurb
The sexy and emotional companion novella to the New York Times bestselling romance HERO.
Nadia Ray is not just a broadcast meteorologist. She’s Boston’s morning television It Girl. Successful and independent, she’s put a past she’s ashamed of behind her and is forging a future she can be proud of. However, when her new boss discovers her secret he blackmails her, intent on using Nadia’s popularity to make them the number one morning show in Massachusetts. He wants her to be part of uncovering the city’s biggest scandal – a secret billionaire Caine Carraway is hiding.
Soon Nadia is thrown into the path of Caine’s best friend: sexy, wealthy bachelor Henry Lexington. But she doesn’t encounter the dashing high society gentleman Henry is purported to be. Instead she’s faced with an insulting and defensive villain who misjudges her at every turn.
When Henry finally realizes the truth, and decides to make amends, Nadia wants nothing to do with him. But she underestimates his determination and charm and soon they find themselves embroiled in an intense, passionate affair.
An affair Nadia knows must come to an end before their feelings grow any deeper and he discovers her secrets.
After all, Henry Lexington isn’t the only one who played the part of a villain once…
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Review
4 stars!
*Note: Villain contains major spoilers for Hero so I definitely recommend reading Hero first. However, that being said, Villain can be read as a standalone.
I was intrigued by Henry Lexington when we met him as the best friend of Caine Caraway from Hero and I was so excited to get his story. Though Villian is a novella, it packs a whole lot of story in a short number of pages. My only real complaint is that I wish it was longer because I didn’t want it to end.
Nadia is the broadcast meteorologist for a Boston morning news show and is known as “WCVB’s Weather Pin-Up Girl.” She is smart and successful but has a past that haunts her, one she keeps hidden. She finds her job in jeopardy when her boss learns her secret and blackmails her in order to get the dirty scoop on Caine Carraway, one of Boston’s most well-known billionaires. When Nadia looks into Caine, Henry interferes, his actions causing Nadia to hate him on the spot. However, as they spend more time together, the sexual tension is impossible to deny and they soon find out just how wrong first impressions can be.
There was something deeply wrong with me that I could be attracted to a man I didn’t even like.
I really enjoyed Villain and thought Samantha Young did a wonderful job as bringing Henry and Nadia’s story to life. It’s interesting, different, and was well-paced, and it was easy to get sucked into this sweet, sexy, emotional read.
Nadia is good, genuine, and hard-working but she isn’t perfect. She has a secret that shaped her and I love how she refuses to let her past define her. She is smart and determined to succeed while constantly fighting the challenges she faces daily.
Two months ago my life was going somewhere. I was successful, respected, and popular.
Lately I felt like a play toy in the man’s world, and I thought I’d left that feeling behind.
Though I did enjoy Nadia’s character, I thought she did a little too much pushing away in the beginning. I was glad when she decided to give into her attraction and I know she was too.
Henry comes across as a real jerk at first but if you have read Hero you would know he has a totally sweet side, and as you flip the pages, you can’t wait for it to make an appearance. When it does you will surely swoon! He is a total flirt yet can be as charming as ever. When he loves, he loves with his whole heart. He is powerful, successful, and knows just how to handle things thrown his way. He has his own flaws and he owns his mistakes and actions. He is good at groveling and his persistence is a turn on. I loved that he didn’t give up on what he wanted.
Nadia and Henry are great together. Both come across as different people but once they get to know each other I could see how well they would get along. There was a spark between them from the beginning even though Nadia wanted nothing to do with Henry. Their banter is fantastic and they the sexual tension is off the charts. You can feel the electricity between them and they are hot together.
“You’re right,” he said, his voice low, deep, “I want you. But I don’t consider anticipation bullshit. We’re going to have lunch. And you’re going to agree to have lunch with me on Thursday. And then you’re going to agree to be my date to the Delaney Charity Ball this Saturday. After which we’ll go back to your apartment and I will happily fuck you into satisfied exhaustion…”
“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “No. We don’t need to have lunch or go to a ball together.”
“No lunch dates, no date to the ball, no penis for you. And you don’t want to miss out on my penis. It’s a good one.”
Along with the romance there are mysteries and secrets. I loved the way the story unfolded and the characters handled the reveal maturely. The epilogue was a nice conclusion to the story and left me satisfied. Overall, it’s an entertaining novella from start to finish, and I definitely recommend it. Just read Hero first if you want to avoid spoilers!!
*ARC generously provided by the author*
Excerpt
Henry got in next to me and threw me the kind of excited grin a child might at Christmas. “Ready?”
“This is quite the car.”
“The words say impressed; your tone does not.” He observed as he pulled on his seatbelt. “Is it the top? Do you want it up so it doesn’t mess your hair?”
“I don’t care about that.” I frowned, annoyed that he’d think I’d be that concerned with my appearance. “I care about how weird this is.”
As we pulled into traffic, Henry slipped on a pair of aviator sunglasses. “What’s weird about two adults having lunch together?”
“Because forty-eight hours ago, we were enemies.”
“So melodramatic. We were merely mistaken about one another.”
“You were mistaken about me. I think I have you pegged accurately.”
“And that’s why we’re going to lunch because you don’t.” He shot me that sexy smirk. “You don’t know the good stuff.”
“Has anyone ever said no to you in your life?”
“Yes, frequently.”
“Have you ever listened to them?”
Henry chuckled. “Rarely.”
His laughter and the sight of him driving this beautiful car with lazy confidence, his strong hands lightly resting on the wheel, those ridiculously hot sunglasses—it all affected me. Greatly. A sensuous ripple fluttered in my lower belly.
Dear God, I really wanted him.
The realization caused my breath to escape from me in a shudder, drawing his attention. Quite abruptly, I made a decision. “I’m just going to put it out there in case you’re planning to take me to a stupidly overpriced restaurant for lunch.”
“Okay.” He drew out the word, sounding amused and wary at the same time.
“I don’t particularly like you. In fact, you have become one of the villains in my story so far. I don’t want to date you and I doubt very much that you are interested in dating me. However, I also doubt that you feel so guilty about your treatment of me that you merely want to turn around my opinion of you. No, sir. I’m here because you’re attracted to me. That’s okay because apparently, I’m attracted to you too. You’re hot and it’s obnoxious but I can’t deny it.”
Henry’s mouth twitched like he was trying to suppress a smile. “Okay.”
“We’re attracted to each other or you wouldn’t have asked me out and I wouldn’t have let myself be manipulated into saying yes. But let’s not pretend this is something that it’s not with chivalry and a date. You want to fuck me. And I’m amenable to the idea. So let’s cut all the bullshit and just do it.”
“Jesus.” Henry almost ran into the back of a car that had stopped at the light, slamming hard on his brakes. He looked at me and even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I knew his expression was incredulous. “You’re amenable to the idea of me fucking you? Did I hear that right?”
I flushed. “I’m sure you’re used to women with gentler manners but I’m a straight talker. I don’t believe in flowering up a situation so as not to offend delicate sensibilities.”
The traffic moved forward and Henry didn’t speak.
In fact, he stayed silent for a while.
So long that I began to feel my cheeks burn with humiliation.
I’d read him wrong. He really did only want to make amends.
I wasn’t his type.
Oh God.
This month had been really, really bad for me.
Finally, he pulled up outside a pizzeria on Tremont Street. Once he killed the engine he took off his sunglasses and turned toward me. His expression was surprisingly sober as he intently studied my face, as if he hoped to find answers there. “You’re right,” he said, his voice low, deep, “I want you. But I don’t consider anticipation bullshit. We’re going to have lunch. And you’re going to agree to have lunch with me on Thursday. And then you’re going to agree to be my date to the Delaney Charity Ball this Saturday. After which we’ll go back to your apartment and I will happily fuck you into satisfied exhaustion.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak because his last sentence turned me on, his words alone sparking delicious excitement deep in my belly.
What the hell would the rest of him do to me?
Of course, after a second or so of physical arousal, the rest of his words sunk in. “What?” I shook my head in confusion. “No. We don’t need to have lunch or go to a ball together.”
“No lunch dates, no date to the ball, no penis for you. And you don’t want miss out on my penis. It’s a good one.”
Hero
Hero (#1)
Review
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Villain (#1.5)
Review
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About the Author
Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us was published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook & hardback June 2017. Play On is an adult contemporary romance and the first in a brand new series set in Scotland. Villain is a companion novella to the New York Times bestselling romance Hero.
Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.
Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.
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