Review: Merger

Merger by Chelle Bliss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want Antonio Forte. The complicated Italian man with an ego that preceded him and gave me pause.

I so wish this story could have been in one book. After loving and not being able to put down Aquisition, I found it difficult to re-ignite my interest in the story initially with Merger. That said, after a slowish start, I did manage to quickly fall in love with Antonio and Lauren again.

The whole merger part of this story seemed to be over and done with relatively quickly in this book and it left me wondering where Lauren and Antonio’s story would go next. Well, that’s easy to explain. With business aside, readers are introduced to Antonio’s delightful family. With his relationship with Lauren growing stronger day by day, Antonio is more than ready to introduce her to his mother and the rest of his family, much to Lauren’s initial reluctance. With their business dealings pretty much now opening the door to their relationship, it’s not long before colleagues realise that there is something going on between the two as they spend so much time together. As expected, there are one of two disgruntled employees unhappy at their personal “merger” but Lauren and Antonio are more than capable to quash any internal uprisings.

Thankfully, we get to revisit Antonio’s island again, with an extra treat in store this time, and we are also rewarded with a visit or two to Lake Como in Italy, where Antonio’s family live. During their time in Como, readers get to appreciate a different side of both Lauren and Antonio and at this point, the book’s story seemed to take on an altogether different focus. Gone was the hardened business minds, and in their place, we spend time with two people who are finding their way towards a HEA.

I did enjoy Merger but I would recommend reading both books together to experience the full effect of the story. There is one again fun times to be had between Lauren and Antonio between the sheets and although their initial connection has taken on a different feel to it, it is still a rewarding relationship to see develop. The large family we meet on Antonio’s side is clearly an important part of Chelle’s personal and book life and it would be a shame not to explore more of the characters in this book as was done with the Men of Inked series. With punky Violetta to the equally attractive but dangerous Stefano, I think readers would really enjoy more from the Forte family.

This duo of books had a different feel to them from what Chelle normally writes. Whilst Merger was an enjoyable story, I felt that it lost some of its business intrigue, or maybe it was intentional. There is the usual Chelle Bliss heat between the pages, so don’t worry about it being a tame romance, it just felt different, but in a nice way and the ending simply made the story all the more worthwhile, especially Lauren’s gift to Antonio.


This ebook was kindly provided by the author prior to release date in return for an honest and unbiased review.

View all my reviews