Billionaire Alexander Kazankov always wins. But he didn’t count on high-heeled, drop-dead sexy Lily Bennett getting in the way of his latest deal. She’s a distraction he doesn’t need, not when he’s so close to making things right for his family. Lily may walk and talk like a Southern piece of fluff, but she’s been underestimated before. She’s determined to succeed–and no entitled, arrogant … entitled, arrogant asshole, especially the too-gorgeous-for-his-own-good-kind, is going to get in her way.
Oil, meet water. Gasoline, meet spark. It’s all-out war as these two enemies go toe-to-toe in an ugly, take-no-prisoners battle to prove they’re the right choice to be CEO of the same company. All too soon, playing dirty in the boardroom leads to playing even dirtier in the dark. It’s destined to end in personal and professional disaster. So why the hell can’t they stop?
Each book in the Billionaire Bad Boys series is STANDALONE:
*Billionaire Blackmail
*Besting the Billionaire
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Everything about this book worked for me.
Hot Russian – check
Feisty Widow – check
Fight over CEO of a company that means something to both of them – check
Unbridled Passion – check
Alexander Kazankov never loses and his latest deal is one he’s been working on for years. A deal he will stop at nothing to finish. The acquisition of Winslow Industries from the Winslow family has been on Alexi’s radar for years. After the death of patriarch Russel Winslow, Alexi in now preparing to go head-to-head with Russell Winslow’s widow, Lily Bennett.
Lily is a lot smarter than anyone has ever given her credit for. She might have a cringe-worthy past but it should not define who is now. Unfortunately, there are those in the world who love to reveal the mistakes, tragedies, or other private matters that are no one’s business. I’m not talking about illegal actions, I’m talking about poor decisions, choices that seemed okay at the time but maybe weren’t really, or associations with less-that-desirable companions. Lily is bound and determined to run Winslow according to her deceased-husband’s wishes. Except, Lily has way more against her than for her, including the children of Russell, wary board members, and hot Russian businessmen. The only way to come out on top is to prove she’s exactly who Winslow Industries needs.
I really enjoyed this book. The glass ceiling is real and this book takes it on. Lily encounters several board members who subscribe to the good ole boys club. Their attitude and connections make it harder for Lily to obtain the number of votes necessary for a CEO. She’s consistently trying to outmaneuver Alexi, while simultaneously pushing aside her attraction for him. Of everyone she deals with concerning the board, Alexi is the only one who doesn’t hold her being a woman against her. He realizes just how strong and capable she is and how shrewd and cunning she will be as a CEO.
Besting the Billionaire is engaging with strong character development, and impressive world-building. The author’s writing style is clear, concise, and conversational with perfect pacing, and likable characters. I highly recommend this book.
I was provided a copy of this book to read.
Besting the Billionaire is book two in the Billionaire Bad Boys series by Alison Aimes. This is an enemies to lovers romance and holy smoke, these two! In the blurb it says oil, meet water, gasoline, meet spark! That’s a perfect analogy. Because there is no better word to describe when they come together than combustible!!!
“His past, his present, his future at war. His loyalties increasingly divided.”
Alexander (Alexi) Kazankov has been waiting years to take over Winslow Industries. Now is his chance. Ownership of the company is not for himself but to repay a long overdue debt to the woman who raised him, who supported him, who loved him, Lena Orlov. His only obstacle is that the deceased owner left the company to his widow. And Alexi had not anticipated the adversary she would be!
“The more she told him to stay out of her business, the more he wanted in. Not just her tight body, but inside her stubborn will. Inside her complicated mind.”
Lily Bennett knew she could bring back Winslow Industries to it’s former glory. All she needed was to bring the board around to her side. But they are not as supportive as she hoped. Especially with Alexi Kazankov fighting her for their vote. Not only does Alexi infuriate every cell in her body, he awakens her as well. Just his nearness makes promises to parts of her that have been asleep for a very long time.
“Of all the men who could have rocked her world, why did her body have to come alive for him?”
Alexi had a plan. But with every encounter he has with the beautiful Lily, that plan takes another step back. His priorities start to weaken. The more he gets to know Lily, the more the lines are blurred.
“You’ve got my respect, my admiration, and my attention. The question is, what do you want to do about it?”
As Alexi and Lily battle for the company that they both want, things begin to happen that make it clear there is another player in this battle, someone who very much wants Lily out of the running. The question is, how far will they go to accomplish this?
Wow, just wow! These two are equal in every respect of their battle! Only neither of them had counted on the attraction that can’t be denied. And for that attraction, that chemistry, to become more. I could not turn the pages fast enough. Once again Alison Aimes has written a book that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. But at the same time, written a romance between two people clearly made for one another. These are two characters that I won’t soon forget. I hope at some point Alison jumps back into the contemporary romance genre. But I think she can pretty much rock any genre she decides to write!
“Somehow along the way, what she needed was becoming what he needed too.”
It makes me proud when an author sees fit to give her alpha male, a taste of his own back. For that reason I loved Besting the Billionaire. Lily is a worthy adversary for Mr. King of the Mountain. When these two cross paths what follows is an intense battle of the minds, hormones and sexes. Backing down is not an option and missing out on this magnetic read would be a mistake.
WONDERFUL story!!! I so loved both characters & is one of the best steamy romances I’ve read in awhile! I loved the “tension” between them & that they both were so strong!! The storyline was great with a few twists & turns! It wasn’t all just sex but there was an actual story plot with great characters!!! Will definitely remember this story!!!
I thought this childish book was simply too absurd to be even slightly realistic characters were shallow and self-centered pathetic as what I would call this book I cannot really recommend it.
The blurb for this book definitely had me interested in reading this story. I was excited because this is a new author for me and I was beyond excited to read how this story would play out. This book turned out to be an okay read for me. I truly enjoyed the back and forth banter between Lily and Alexi. I also enjoyed the frustrating but sexual tension between the two, but I needed more from this story. The story felt flat and I found it slow at times when I was expecting so much more from this book. It wasn’t a terrible read, it just didn’t rank where I was hoping it would for me. The ending was sweet but I still felt at the end of this story that this book was just missing that something that would have made this book a top read for me.