In Mr. HotShot CEO, Jackie Lau delivers equal parts sizzle and serious. It’s a rom-com that doesn’t rely on extremes to create attraction between its already magnetic main characters.
Mr. HotShot CEO continues the Kwan Sisters series, this time pairing Courtney Kwan with Fong Investments CEO Julian Fong. Set in Toronto, it features a Chinese-Canadian hero and heroine in a dual POV rom-com that deals with depression. Julian is a workaholic CEO who took over for his father, and Courtney is a biomedical researcher. The two meet when Julian’s family puts him on a two week forced vacation and Julian approaches Courtney in a coffee shop with a proposition: spend two weeks showing me how to have fun, get paid $5K.
Some will cheer a heroine who’s a woman scientist, or who’s Chinese-Canadian. (Yay for both!) The other thing that stood out for me was Lau takes the one-track-mind CEO who needs to lighten up and matches him with a heroine who’s NOT the quirky, madcap free spirit in a flowy skirt. Courtney and Julian are more similar than maybe even they realize. Courtney is a regular person who enjoys her job, loves her friends and family and has had some crap boyfriends. She’s also dealing with recurring depression, and it’s led her to believe she’s destined to end up alone. She’s a super relatable, funny heroine with more going for her than she admits to herself.
In a short time, these two make big impressions on each other and as time ticks down on their two weeks together, you are rooting for them to find a way to sort it all out. Their whirlwind romance has all the hallmarks of an excellent “rom-com fun” montage, but eventually it’s shadowed by the twinges of her next depressive episode. Courtney’s anxiety about another bout brings some reality to the story, it’s not all sunshine and roses.
A strong supporting cast, including Julian’s hilarious, but lost playboy brother Vince, points to more to come from the Fong family. I hope.
Between the two books in the series, Mr. HotShot CEO is the stronger of the pair. Courtney’s sister Naomi kicked off the series in Lau’s GRUMPY FAKE BOYFRIEND.
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