What would the black romance genre be without Christina C. Jones? I don’t even want to think about that, but all I know is I’m so grateful for this woman and the time she has dedicated to perfecting her craft and pushing her pen. Hostile Takeover is a testament to her ability to craft stories with classic tropes with her unique essence. 

The Blackwood Billion series is off to a near perfect start with Orion and Nalani. The humor, the couple’s chemistry, family drama, and well-developed plot made Hostile Takeover an absolute pleasure to devour. It would be remiss not to mention the excellent job Jones does with world-building since a majority (if not all) of her books/series have their own specific “universes” with an emphasis on all black cast, businesses, towns , history etc. For those that like to argue that black romance has no escapism, this author’s catalogue is a clear rebuttal to that notion. As always the dialogue and banter amongst Christina’s characters remains one of my favorite  things about her writing. Morgan and Alexis felt my homegirls making them the the perfect comedic relief and dose of reality Nalani needed when she got in her head. 

The couples progression to forming a genuine bond was not an easy one. Their chemistry jumped off the page from the moment they met so watching them learn how to navigate life together considering their genesis was interesting. Despite the miscommunication trope being drawn out more than I prefer it did not put a damper on my reading experience. I would have loved to see Orion be even more vulnerable with Nalani and more development in that regar, yet I’m confident that these two can work through anything.   

Despite a few typos and a  missed opportunity to add just a tad more depth to a mildly complex male MC, Hostile Takeover has undoubtedly made me excited to read the next installments in the series. Highly recommended for those that love the arranged marriage trope with a nice twist!