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Imitator – Katou Setsuko
Satomi is your average older-uke salaryman, a hard worker guy type. When one of his co-workers, Oikawa, approaches him, he finds a resemblance between Oikawa and his son β who turned out as the same age as Oikawa. Later when Oikawa invited himself to infiltrate Satomiβs house, he makes a shocking confession enough to make Satomi falls for him.
Satomi is going to have a really awkward day in the office…
(source:Β https://mangapark.me)
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REVIEW: Gold Digger by Aleksandr Voinov
Gold Digger – Aleksandr Voinov
Not all that glitters is gold.
Nikolai Krasnorada leads the life of a corporate nomad. Working for a gold explorations company, heβs never put down roots, and he likes it that way. Roots can be dangerous, as everyone from his βman-hatingβ sister to his manipulative mother to his war-traumatized father has proven.
But when his CEO sends him to Toronto to strike a deal with LeBeau Mining, Nikolai meets Henri LeBeau, crown prince to the resources conglomerate and inveterate flirt. Sparks fly immediately, despite the business deal that threatens to go sour and Nikolaiβs own reluctance to give Henri false hope about him being Mr. Right. Heβs barely come to terms with his bisexuality, and getting involved with Henri would get messy.
When LeBeau Mining launches a hostile takeover bid, Nikolai and Henri find themselves on opposite sides of the negotiating table. But fortunately β or perhaps unfortunately β for Nikolai, Henriβs not nearly as interested in his company as he is in his heart.Because Iβm the type to nitpick on book covers, Iβd like to put it out there that theΒ Italian cover is so much better
Also it took me halfway through the book to realize that the Vadim mentioned here, Nikolaiβs father and ex-spetnaz, is the Vadim in the epic Special Forces saga (I must have missed the part that says itβs a spinoff). Holy hell! This manβs a legend!! But as much as I love Aleksandr Voinovβs books, I donβt think I have the courage nor the patience to read something dark with more than 2000 pages. Maybe audiobook, please?
Aleksandr Voinov doesnβt do cute and fluffy the way it is typically done. In fact his writing is usually associated with the words βsmartβ,Β βdarkβ, βsensualβ, βmasculineβ, and βpowerfulβ. However, for Gold Digger, thereβs a line that describes how he writes the story
Henriβs agitation was odd andΒ endearing, so very him, and Nikolai found himself smiling. βCuteβ wasnβt a word for Henri, butΒ damn, he was a manly version of that.
Manly version of cute. This is how the story certainly feels and Henri and Nikolai both fit the bill.
Henri is endearingly open and honest about what he wants, almost to the point of being pushy but heβs not a manipulative asshole and he never goes beyond Nikolaiβs boundaries. I feel like he has this streak of crazy in him and it would have been fun had it been unleashed but the story underplayed this side of him. He was, for the most part, a flirtatious, easy going but driven guy.
Nikolai is a man struggling to get his bearings after being talked to getting a blowjob by Henri and discovered he liked it. To make things more complicated he was attracted to Henri even though he knew until now he was straight and Henri is on the enemyβs side. Him trying to wrap his head as to what is going on between him and Henri is cute. They had great chemistry and I enjoyed the banter. My complaint here is that the development of their relationship happened in the span of their first meeting with the LeBeaus up to the time they met again to talk about the take-over which is like one week? two weeks? I donβt think it even took a month and here they were, already talking about selling Henriβs condo and settling in Armenia or Georgia. Thatβs pretty fast for a man who just discovered he is bisexual.
Nikolai is loyal to Cybele, the company he is working for and his bestfriend, Ruslan Polonin, who is the CEO. They try to avoid a hostile takeover from LBM, the company Henri works for. This part alone is enough to keep my attention. I have always been interesting in how these high flying corporate types do business and nobody writes financial thrillers like Voinov.
Nikolaiβs relationship with his family, particularly with his father, Vadim, was also a major plot point. Nikolai has always felt like an outsider in his family and the revelations by his sister, Anya, only proved the point. Vadim, being a former soldier has to deal with a dark past and mental trauma. Father and son are not emotional touchy feely types but when they laid some important issues out it was a very touching emotional moment albeit in a stoic military way. Would have wanted to meet Dan though. Where is Vadimβs husband in all this?
Overall, I really liked the feel of the story. It not as dark and heavy as is typically the case with the author but it still feels sophisticated and understated. The corporate drama was engaging. The romance was lighthearted and sweet.The characters were likable people except Anya who is a vindictive bitch. Gold Digger works well as a standalone but it will make you very curious about Vadim. Iβm looking forward to a sequel and maybe someday, I will have it in me to read Special Forces.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits
Soundtrack: Make Them Gold
Artist: Chvrches
Album: Every Open Eye(source:Β https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32497127-gold-digger)
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[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A2gNl0X09EFvqTurPXIhQsI&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to Gold Digger by Aleksandr Voinov
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Once you know what you want, you can make the rest happen
Aleksandr Voinov -
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfMuCsgZjSI?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=375]