Secrecy: A Dark Billionaire Romance (The Descent Series Book 2)

Axel & Harper Struggle With What It Means To Give Up Control In This Steamy Office Romance! They Risk Discovery & Their Own Hearts When Harper Agrees To Submit To Axel. He Introduces Her To His World, But The Two Are Still Worlds Apart.

This is book two of the Descent series. The series includes:
• Descent (a short prequel)
• Indecency, Book 1 (Maddox’s story)
• Secrecy, Book 2 (Axel’s story)
• Decadent, Book 3 (appears to be Declan’s story; unpublished as of this writing)

FROM DESCENT:

When Maddox returns home to his foster parents during the summer between sophomore and junior year of college, he is shocked to see that his little foster sister Clara has grown up and turned into a brat. He is even more surprised when he finds himself inexplicably attracted to Clara’s long time best friend Madison. But at sixteen, she is just a kid, so Maddox busies himself with other girls and his professional plans for after college.

Identical twins Maddox and Axel, along with Declan, their friend from college, make big plans at age twenty to go into business together. Five years later, their business is up and running when Axel, the wild one of the three, takes the other two to a BDSM club. Maddox is surprised when he finds himself drawn to some of the activities. Axel promises both that they will feel quite comfortable after a few drunks.

This quick read is a prequel to the Descent series. The story shows promise. Broody Maddox is easy to root for. His sad past begs for his own HEA! The plot is simple. Maddox ‘s character is nicely developed given the length and his background is compelling. The story is written in first person. It is in Maddox’s POV. I rate this book 3.5 stars.

FROM INDECENCY, BOOK 1:

Maddox West, twenty-five, should be enjoying the success that his three years of hard work after college earned him. He, his identical twin Axel, and their friend Declan plotted out a business plan during college and went ahead with it full throttle after graduation. They work hard to make their marketing and sales firm a success, but the weekends are for fun.

Maddox had largely dropped off the radar over the last year, though, after giving up his playboy ways in favor of a relationship with Jasmine. When she recently broke up with him, he was left a broody mess. He understands why the guys never liked her, but he is still hung up on her because the idea of going back to one night hookups has zero appeal.

When Axel, his rowdy twin, insists on taking Maddox out to a sex club to get him past the breakup, he never imagines that his dream girl will walk through the door. Madison is all woman now, but he still can’t consider anything with his foster sister’s best friend. She is the one woman he can’t have, but has wanted for five years.

Madison Taylor, twenty-one, works with single-minded determination. Graduation and her work at a pro bono law firm are the only things that matter to her aside from her mother and her best friend Clara. After a tough childhood that had her growing up too soon, she had let loose her freshman year and nearly flunked out of school. She had learned from her mistakes, though, and with graduation coming up in the spring, her plans are falling into place.

But her best friend Clara has been concerned that she is losing herself in her work and neglecting everything else. She has a point, so Madison agrees to a night out with Clara. The club they attend, however, turns out to be a sex club, and once inside they are confronted by Clara’s brothers and their friend Declan, and the men aren’t very happy to see them.

Maddox and Madison’s story is a slow burn sister’s best friend story. With feelings that have been privately stewing for years, it is explosive when the couple finally comes together. But the couple must balance their tenuous new relationship while trying to keep things quiet, because several relationships stand to be damaged if they don’t handle things delicately. The added pressures of school add yet another obstacle to their happiness. In the end, though, the couple achieves their HEA. The end hints to Axel’s story in a sequel, as he seems taken with a new hire at the company.

This plot is fairly simple. The characters are nicely developed. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Maddox and Madison. I rate this book 3.5 stars.

IN THIS BOOK:

Secrecy opens just before the epilogue in Indecency, which is a few months after Maddox and Madison got engaged and before Madison’s graduation in the spring. It appears to be about one year after Maddox, Axel, and Declan ran into Clara and Madison at the club, based upon a comment that Axel has been attending the club for just over one year.

Axel West, about twenty-six, is the wild West twin. With the sales and marketing firm that he, his identical twin Maddox, and their best friend Declan founded doing well, life is good. He enjoys his role as head of the sales department. In his off time, Axel spends time with his submissives at the BDSM club he has been frequenting for just over a year now. He loves being a dominant, using his whip, marking his sub. It excites him.

He and Maddox have come far from their troubled past. Their drug-addicted parents gave them an unstable life, and until they were eventually placed with the Millers, the foster system wasn’t much better. But Axel always took back control wherever he could, trying to overcome the sense of helplessness he had been raised in. He applied himself at school and started his own company, defining his own success. And at the club he gets the ultimate control when a woman kneels in submission before him.

Harper Sullivan, about twenty-two, is a recent graduate from one of the top schools in the country. Her grades helped her land a position at a great company in her hometown, near her father. She is excited about being a marketing assistant, and hopes to make it past her probationary period to land a pay raise and be promoted up to marketing associate. Declan, her boss, leads the marketing department.

When Harper is given an opportunity to distinguish herself, she is thrilled about the possibilities. Declan asks her to develop a marketing campaign for their company. Because the plan directly involves the sales department that will implement it, Declan asks her to work with Axel in the role of the client. This presents a slight problem, however, because when Harper first saw Axel weeks ago she found herself incredibly attracted to him, and the employee handbook has rules about fraternization.

Axel knows he is in trouble when Declan asks him to work on a campaign with Harper. He had done his best to avoid her since he first saw her at an office party. Something about Harper draws him in and he feels himself losing control. She is clearly innocent, nothing like the women he spends his time with. Even if he could bend the rules at work, he would only end up ruining her.

Axel and Harper work hard to keep things professional, but over time their attraction to one another begins to win out. They risk discovery and their own hearts when Harper agrees to submit to Axel. He introduces her to his world, but the two are still worlds apart. Personal obstacles makes things more serious, and before they know it they are both in over their heads. Eventually the couple earns a happy ending.

Axel and Harper’s story is about control. It is about dealing with hardship. Axel’s life is carefully controlled, so when he begins a relationship outside of the club, it necessarily causes some discomfort. Harper also has hardship in her life. She lost her mother, then her father recently remarried a single mother, leaving Harper feeling unmoored. Additionally, she is still hesitant to trust men after a bad experience in college. Giving her innocence and her submission to Axel is a big deal to her, but she wonders if she is just another submissive to him. He is reluctant to open up to her, which feeds her doubt.

There are some issues which merit mention. First, the story is sometimes tedious. At times it is overly dramatic and feels unrealistic. The wording is occasionally awkward. Next, Harper comes across as very weak when some family issues arise. She is deeply impacted, but it feels inauthentic because she obviously faired well in her academic career despite setbacks. Axel is insensitive at times. One of the biggest issues is Declan, though. For all his principles, he gets a lot wrong. He is outright rude in front of Harper. He preaches about mixing business and personal life, but he in fact does that himself. He oversteps big time. He takes preemptive action, and though there is truth in his assumptions, they are just that. He overreacts to a point of being unprofessional. I have to wonder if he might even have gotten himself in a little trouble with the HR department if they had been notified. It is never clarified how the fraternization issue was cleared up in the end. Finally, note that neither Clara nor the Millers are mentioned here. The epilogue points to book three and Declan’s story with the bartender from the club.

Axel and Harper struggle with what it means to give up control in this steamy office romance. The plot is fairly simple. The characters are nicely developed. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Axel and Harper. I rate this book 3.5 stars.

I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.