Falling Under You

I’ll admit: I rolled my eyes at the ‘billionaire vs. brilliant employee’ premise—until Norma Anders walked into the first chapter like she owned the place. Laurelin Paige doesn’t just write strong female leads; she writes *strategic* ones, and Norma’s financial savvy isn’t window dressing. When the hero, Liam, tries to strong-arm her into a deal, she counters with interest rates and equity stakes, and *that’s* when the sexual tension gets interesting. Carly Robins’ narration sells this perfectly: she makes Norma’s dialogue sound like it’s backed by a spreadsheet, even when the subtext is pure filth. Her Liam, meanwhile, is all velvet-threat—less growly alpha, more ‘I could ruin you with a phone call, but I’d rather ruin you in bed.’ The audiobook’s brevity is both its strength and its weakness. At 3.5 hours, there’s no fat, but the emotional payoff feels slightly rushed. Norma’s backstory—her scrappy rise from poverty—gets lip service, but we never *feel* the weight of it beyond her work ethic. And while Robins’ performance is stellar, her voice for Liam occasionally blends into the ‘generic rich guy’ cadence we’ve heard in a dozen other romances. Still, the boardroom-to-bedroom chemistry is electric, and the financial details (yes, *actual* financial details) give the conflict teeth. If you love romances where the power play isn’t just metaphorical—and where the narrator treats smut like a high-stakes negotiation—this is a standout. Just don’t expect a slow burn; it’s more like a controlled detonation.