At His Service (Playboys of Boston, #1)

by Suzanne Rock

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

If you like a tall dark mysterious Italian alpha man than this is the perfect book for you.

This is about Leo Perconti the oldest of 6 brothers and sisters who is called in to Boston to try and save his family’s flagship hotel that is being run by his younger brother Marco. Leo is hoping that by marrying off his younger sister Arianna to a wealthy aviation tycoon he can forge a partnership that will save the family business and fortune. Leo is also coming off a nasty divorce and has sworn off love and has asked his brothers to follow suite to help try to repair the family image. Needless to say Leo has a lot of saving to do and no one to really look out for him – so when he meets Karin Norell he is blindsided.

Karin is working as an intern at the hotel trying to balance work and school to get her hospitality degree. The hotel staff is overworked and underpaid and she ends up doing more then just looking at spreadsheets and ends up cleaning rooms when the maids call in sick. Karin and Leo meet when Leo mistakes Karin as a maid when she is forced to get his room ready for his visit. Leo has a dark side in the bedroom and shows Karin what a submissive sexual relationship looks like. Karin soon becomes more and more addicted to Leo and his dominating ways which puts them in some extremely compromising positions. Their feelings for each grow non the less and Leo finds that its ok to trust again.

I really liked Leo – he is head of a family and has taken a lot of burden on himself to try and save the family. He has been impacted by events that have taken place in his past that cause him to deal with anxiety and depression that he does have to take medication for. I appreciate the fact that even though as Leo’s relationship with Karin grows he continues to take his medication even when he feels like he is doing better. I commend Suzanne Rock for depicting that behavior throughout the book – it sends a great message that I believe is very important. I also like his brothers and sister – they are a family unit and would do anything for each other and that shows throughout the book. There is a great setup for the next book with Arianna that I am looking forward to.

To me the weak link is Karin – there were times I found her naive to the point of annoying. She is extremely smart and does have some great ideas to help Leo but then there are things she does and says that I found hard to believe. I am also confused about her back story – we as the reader only get a few glimpses of specific things for Karin while for Leo we meet members of his family and get a full picture of his story. Seemed a little lopsided to me and it was hard for me to invest in Karin like I could with Leo. I am hoping the next book will show us more of Karin since it feels like Karin and Leo’s story is a little unfinished.

Overall it’s a good story and does a great job to set up the Perconti family for the next books.


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