Review: Provoke by Ava Harrison

Rating: 4/5 PoP: 58%

Charles Cavendish has restarted life in New York away from his father and everything that made him expect the worst of people. He keeps his relationship superficial and even that is rather limited, until a woman captures his attention from across the room. Raven Bennett finds herself locked in a closet with the handsome stranger at the club by mistake. After a memorable kiss, she does not plan on ever seeing this man again. But fate has other plans. Raven gets calls into her new job early and meets her boss, Mr. Cavendish, the man from the club. 

Raven made this book for me. She was a strong woman, who was not afraid to speak her mind and was confident in her abilities. She does not stand for the crap that Charles often pulls to keep his distance from others. She challenges him in a way that is beneficial for both their relationship and the Cavendish Group. She has a great support system outside work and I found her interactions and behaviors with them believable. Her mom is her best friend and gives her some very valuable advice that can only come from lived experience. 

Charles was a real jerk at times and I was worried he would not be able to redeem himself. His storyline is heavily foreshadowed but there were still a few surprises. Things moved quickly near the end of this book but I felt that everything came to a satisfying conclusion. I really loved how for the most part these characters talk through their issues and act like mature adults. They do have instances where they hurt each other,but time and space give them perspective and they figure it out. This is a quick witted read with just a sprinkle of suspense that keeps you turning the pages.