Iron Crowne: Enemies to Lovers Standalone

Oh ya this one was one hell of a book. Absolute perfection, loved every single part of this amazing book. A definite must read!!

This is a fantastic enemies- to-lovers romance. Byron Crowne and Olivia Monroe are opposing sides of a lawsuit. He’s the developer wanting to build near a protected land, and he’s the fearless environmental lawyer wanting to prevent it. Byron is rich, arrogant, conning, gets anything he wants by flashing his money and charming smile. He’s everything Olivia despises. Yet, she finds herself unable to resist him.

I love, love, love Bryon. He is an irresistible alphahole. I loved his vulnerability. I especially loved all the filthy things that came out of his mouth. I had the same reaction towards him as Olivia did. Olivia’s independence, assertiveness and knowing what she wants in life is what drew me in to her. The complexity of these two characters is one of the things that I loved about this book.

Don’t get me started on how deliciously good the hate sex is between Byron and Olivia. I wanted them to be arguing all the time. My goodness, my Kindle overheaded every time Olivia and Byron came together. Byron’s dominance is sexy and not feel like he has all the power. It’s well balanced.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series. The Crowne family is interesting. I’m hoping every sibling gets their own story.

4.5 stars

Whoa!!!! Iron Crowne is so much better than I was expecting!!!

I absolutely love these two characters, Olivia and Byron. Olivia is a very strong, independent woman. She’s an environmental lawyer out to win against Byron. He is powerful, rich, hot as hell and he has set out to build a monstrosity of a house. She won’t back down and he will stop at nothing to get his plan through. They are enemies through and through but oh my *fans self* are these two attracted to each other. There is so much to their story and CD Reiss has told it perfectly. She weaves together a story of two people effected by their pasts, there is so much raw emotion! I absolutely loved their HEA!!!

I really enjoy going into C.D. Reiss novels without a clue as to what I’m getting myself into. There aren’t many writers that I can blindly one click and trust that I’m going to get an engaging read that pushes all of my buttons but Reiss is one of them. I’ve come to know that no matter what she’s writing, she’s going to put me in a world that I find wildly entertaining and of course that’s exactly what I found when I read Iron Crowne.

Before I go too much further let me establish two things:

1. This novel is a stand alone–so no cliffhangers (whew!).
2. I had a ton of fun reading this novel and if you love Reiss or you’re brand new to her novels, I think you will have fun reading this one too.

Now that those things are out of the way, let me just say OMFGWTF with these characters. They drove me crazy (in the best possible way). I was so torn. The iamfeministhearmeroar part of me was all RAWR look at you, you bad ass Olivia, you. Give him hell. Tear him to pieces. (The ‘him’ being Byron–her sexy hot nemesis). Then as I watched what seemed like a train wreck happening right in front of my face when it came to her I was all “NOOOOOOO. STOP. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!” *facepalm* *facepalm* *facepalm* GAH. You can imagine how strange it was to have that intense feeling while also wanting her to capitulate to her horndog wants and needs and desires because I knew it was going to be so good and hot and dang girl, get you some. GAH.

Quite a mashup of emotions… and that was before I even got to know Byron that well. So you can guess that once his POV was woven into the narrative, I got even more invested in what was going to happen and how it would all go down. He was equally maddening. The push and pull and emotional pretzeling he did to himself and to her were so not necessary, BYRON. WHY MUST YOU FIGHT SO HARD BYRON. JUST GIVE IN TO YOUR EMOTIONS. Le sigh.

These two + their families + their stories before they met were interesting and just the perfect storm of conflict and emotion (and sexy times). I was fully engaged and absorbed and I’m sincerely hoping we see ALL of the Crownes and both of Olivia’s friends have stories of their own. I love a good spin off and I feel like this book has so many characters left to explore. BUY THIS BOOK and you can thank us later.

Wow, so I really didn’t expect to feel the way I fell after reading this book. I know the author is magic with her words but I feel like in some parts she was looking right into my soul and ripping out things I have never told anyone before. I’m not sure if this book was truly meant to make someone feel the things I did but wow!

Olivia is a successful environmental lawyer. She has gone up against some of the biggest names in construction and business and taken them down but she has never met an opponent like Byron Crowne. Byron will be her greatest advisory and her weakest link. Olivia is a character I really connected with, her strength yet vulnerability, her mask, her social persona, the way she isn’t one who lets other people see who she really is inside. She has designed this armor that protects her from getting hurt but yet at the same time she wants someone to break through it.

Byron is used to getting what he wants, with his name alone doors automatically open. Throw in good looks, charm and money and he has never faced something he couldn’t crush. He expects Olivia to be just another stepping stone to walk over to get what he wants. Man, was he in for a surprise. Byron is a man who refuses to let anyone get close. He is a man who has been struggling with living for awhile. He isn’t looking for anyone to find the real him because he has no desire to ever share that part again. He is content with how things are.

Olivia and Byron’s chemistry is off the charts from the minute they meet. In and out of the bedroom they are fire and gasoline together. I was just waiting for it to blow up.

I am really looking forward to the next book in this series. I am interested to see more of the Crowne family dynamic.

Overall Grade: ++

“…She didn’t need a hero. She didn’t need to be saved. She was the champion of her own story, and she knew it. Olivia asked for nothing not because she feared she’d never get it, but because she was a master of creating her own truth. I didn’t want her or anyone—I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. But she would tempt me, this magical creature who fought like a warrior and quoted poetry like an artist. This goddess who needed no one, but chose me for now.”

There’s a profundity to CD Reiss’s writing. Echoing through her story of hedonistic passion and prosaic emotionally- wrecked heroes and heroines are truths. About life. About love. Shadowing the romance of Byron Crowne and Olivia Monroe in her newest book, Iron Crowne, is the truth about control and the freedom of love and the need to heal.

In feminist criticism, as power is delineated in the realm of gender, the male tends to act as a colonizer of the woman’s body. He controls it and, in essence, he controls her. In this story, Reiss illustrates this struggle in one of two ways: first, in Olivia’s physical want for Byron’s colonizing and HIS want to write himself on her body, and secondly, in Byron’s need to build his monstrosity on the hill, essentially wrecking the synergy of nature. These two moments in this story are the vociferous lessons of control. Olivia and Byron, while seemingly different, are alike in their need to control outcomes. In that control, they protect themselves, yet bind themselves too. It’s in the resolutions of this control that these two find their future. But only in embracing fear and letting go, can this happen. It’s Reiss’s calling card in this book for her readers. We need to embrace the things that make us afraid so that we can heal the wounds of our pasts and find our happiness. Herein lies the profundity of Reiss’s writing.

She achieves this innately through her style. There’s a poetry to Reiss’s writing. It flits and floats across the page drawing her readers into its rhyme and meter. She creates tension through her words that underscore the tension between her characters. This is necessary. Then, she writes healing after cutting through her hero and heroine’s trauma. Her words wrap around your heart, pulling you deep into her storytelling, making you feel her truths viscerally. Her style ingratiates itself into your soul that NOT turning the page feels like a rebuke to her, to her characters, to her truths. So you do. You keep turning pages because to stop would make your soul feel heavy. I couldn’t stop reading Byron and Olivia’s story because it felt more painful to stop than to endure the pain of their coupling. To me, this is the brilliance of a writer such as CD Reiss.

Even more, the passion and $ex of Iron Crowne are filthy. This isn’t an admonishment or criticism. It’s the strength of the storytelling. It’s not written in ways that feel prescriptive or like steps to complete. Reiss creates this physical relationship that wholly represents the essence of her characters and their struggle to be together. Their physicality belies their emotional states. And it melts the pages of her book.

As a hero, Byron is everything you adore about the tragic hero. Unlike other tragic heroes, he doesn’t need to die to find his resolution, but a part of him must die in order to find his eventual happiness. Through much of the book, he is the colonizer. He razes land and body, marking them for ownership and name. Yet, he does this to overcome temporality. His life is a testament to trauma, and he makes decisions that self-sabotage him because the trama keeps him feelings muted, numb. The beauty of his characterization, the part of him (and heroes like him) that I love the most, is the moment when the trauma can no longer sustain his walls. When, in this book, Olivia acts as colonizer and obliterates his self-preservation. Just as he writes himself on Olivia’s body, she writes herself on Byron’s heart. This moment is the transcendent juncture of the story, and I suffered through their pain to get to its beauty.

Lastly, Olivia. There is nothing better than a woman who is self-reflective. Her struggles against a male-dominated profession, her choice in fertility and becoming a mother, her want to win, conspire together to underscore her true beauty. Outwardly, we are told, she is beautiful. Byron calls her “beauty” and ascribes poetry to her essence. Yet, Reiss’s characterization of her inner traits makes her more impressive and insightful. Even at the beginning of their story, when her self-control seems lost to Byron in terms of her body, her mind and heart remain resolute. She’s truly his soulmate in her resolve. In many ways, Olivia could be a “tiger lady,” a derogatory title for a woman with power. However, intertwined with her beauty and power is a compassion and love for others. We find this illustrated in her relationships with Emilio and Linda. All of her qualities conspire to produce a heroic female who should be reproduced over and over again in modern romance. She is a necessity in this story, and she’s a role model for women who want it all.

As I was finishing CD Reiss’s Iron Crowne, the words for this review were rushing through my mind. They were a veritable swell of feelings and thoughts about a book that challenges, titillates, and captivates the reader. I try to help readers understand why I enjoy certain books. I’m never sure that I can elucidate why a particular author transcends the norm of romance. And, for me, I think it comes down to one thing (well, not just one thing): the turn of the page. I read a lot of romance (A LOT), at least one book a day (or a day and a half). I turn pages. But some don’t compel me forward as others do. They don’t challenge my thinking, and they certainly don’t insert themselves into portions of my soul. Yes, they entertain, but they don’t engage the academic nature of my brain. This book, Iron Crowne, did. It found my words for me, it reminded me of my past life as a master’s in lit student, and it engaged my heart in its depth of feeling. If that is the level of romance that you love, then you will hunger for Olivia and Byron’s story. You will open this book, turn the page, and get lost in a story about letting go and finding love.

Tempestuous. Heat. Emotions. ALL THE FEELS. These words best describe this book. From the moment I began Byron Crowne and Olivia’s journey to the very end, I was on the edge of my seat. I was completely enraptured by them and lost in their interesting relationship. This story was unlike any I’ve read and I didn’t want to put it down. I wanted to know how the decisions they made would shape their future. I wanted feelings and messiness and the baby carriage. I didn’t want cold and closed off. CD Reiss took me on a journey and made sure I couldn’t let go. My heart wanted everything, but I had to enjoy the ride I was given. If you like an all-encompassing read, then make sure not to let this one pass you by!

5 LORD BRYON STARS!! THIS BOOK IS IN MY TOP 3 BOOKS FOR 2019. I was captivated all the way through Bryon and Olivia’s story. There was so much angst, sexiness, love/hate, and the feels that were rolling off the pages. Every time I close my eyes I see Lord Bryon….he is PERFECTION. You definitely need this book in your lives….download it now.

Hands down this was a magical read and represented everything I have come to love about this author’s writing. Byron is is the perfect damaged alpha who thinks he has it all under control. Olivia is an intelligent opposite to him and their animosity and tension creates for a very enjoyable read. The tension, the angst, the HEAT, the competitive nature — all of it made the characters really easy to become a part of on their journey.

Fantastic Read!!!

CD Reiss has completely blown me away with this enemy to lovers romance that will give you all the feels and then some!

Byron and Olivia’s relationship is complex and intense with chemistry that bursts off the pages. I was completely held captive with their story and could not put it down. I love the intensity of their relationship, the secondary characters and well, everything about this story. Byron reminds me of another hero who was my introduction into the fantastically filthy world of CD Reiss, Jonathan Drazen.

Overall, this story was utterly fantastic and I seriously needed this from CD Reiss! The Queen is BACK and this is hands down my favorite of 2019!