Title:Survival of the Riches
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year: Dangerous Press 6/12/18
Length: 199 pages
Series: The Trust Fund Duet #1
Overview
Two billionaires determined to claim her.
And a war fought on the most dangerous battlefield–the heart.
My story starts with a plunge into the cold water of Massachusetts Bay. A strong hand hauls me back onto the deck of the luxury yacht. Christopher was supposed to be my enemy. Instead he protects me with fierce determination.
That should have been my happily ever after, but then Sutton appeared–ruthless and seductive. He doesn’t care that my heart belongs to someone else, because he’s determined to win. No matter the cost.
It’s an impossible choice, but I can’t have them both.
My Thoughts
We’re taken back into the world of Tanglewood via Boston and New York. We meet Harper, our leading lady when she’s fifteen and spending another spring break week with her father and the latest new wife. She knows that it’s not worth building any bonds since these wives come and go, and when there are other children around, she knows that it’s even less worthwhile to try to make friends. Well, what happens on this particular break is something that changes her life forever.
She’s got a great relationship with her dad, even if she knows that she’s not living up to his expectations. But what she learns is that the son of the latest wife, a boy named Christopher is that perfect child – the heir so to speak that he always wished for. There’s an interesting dynamic that we see develop between Harper and Christopher on this trip and it’s one that stays with them for years. He’s dark and mysterious but mis reads her and that puts her on edge. Harper is a girl that can’t be tamed but has her own motivations for being wild. they’re never reckless or meaningless, that is until this night. She finds herself falling over the edge of the yacht and Christopher dives overboard to save her.
Fast foward through the years and we see that they’ve kept in touch even though their parents are no longer together. There’s an interesting friendship that’s grown even though they’ve never seen each other again since that one week on the boat. It’s not until Harper is nineteen and has her first exhibit that they cross paths and what they had years ago between them is definitely something of a spark that is about to explode.
The circumstances that end this weekend are not positive and we see a death change what their future could have been. The hold that her father had on her and what she was able to do for herself and her mother is now in the hands of Christopher and he’s as ruthless as we always imagined him to be. So the story takes us to Tanglewood, years later, when all Harper wants to do is save her mother, but the stipulations of her trust won’t allow that. Christopher is the only person who’s able to do anything and he refuses.
What readers have to remember is that Harper is the best friend of Avery, a main character from a previous series with Gabriel Miller and their story was a tormented one but one that gave us hope for the brooding men who had too much power. Avery comes up in the story through a series of events to help ground us and Harper on what the next best action should be.
We meet a new character in the form of Sutton Mayfair – a man who’s the opposite of Christopher in looks, but has the same animal chemistry and an eye on Harper. So when Harper goes hunting for Christopher, to get what’s rightfully hers, she finds herself in the cross hairs of two incredibly sexy and powerful men….who are competitors in all things, even though they are partners in business.
We essentially have a coming of age story here where we see Harper not only grow into womanhood but realize her power and strength. She knows her value and what she’s capable of ever since she was forced to stand on her own two feet and provide for herself and her mom, and now the power that she develops as a sensual woman comes to the forefront as she finds these two men enamored with her. She doesn’t know who she should pick since her heart is with one but wants another, and the way that the final chapters of this book play out, we’re left hating one man and wanting the best with another, yet we don’t know if that’s the right choice or the one that will be her downfall. So….on that note, we’re on a cliff of which man is her future, and what does that mean for her life….and her mother’s life. I’m searching out book 2 now, and I can’t wait to see where this one goes. Enjoy!