Teddy Hester will have readers wondering whose the alpha in this relationship? Both want control. Neither knows how to compromise. Man in Charge is a battle of wills that steams up the boardroom and heats up the bedroom. Order is the objective, but chaos is the name of the game. Cleo is a woman existing in a man's world. She knows the score and has no problem with breaking all the rules. Tony is a lone wolf. A player that holds all the cards. The player is about to get played. Hester sexes it up wile delivering a feisty tale of humor and heart that kept me guessing until the last battle. ( )

REVIEW: “When you pop these surprises on me, you’re manipulating me and using feminine wiles and the force of your personality to get away with things you shouldn’t. It makes me feel like a sucker. Worse, it makes it hard to trust you.” To say there is conflict between Cleo and Tony would be an understatement. He is a man used to being in charge of his very beige world. Cleo is his hummingbird, all glistening color, flitting through his life. Her constant activity is so opposite his calm and collected. He wonders if he is falling in love. “Or I am just fascinated by her novelty? Will her charm eventually wear off, and only the annoyance remain?” There is a wonderful warmth to the story as they work to save a landmark theatre. The heat is sizzling as their relationship builds. But there are times I would like to bounce Cleo on her head. She seems unnecessarily overbearing. There is almost too much contrast between his calm and her hyperactivity. I like that the author allows you to choose between two endings for the book and I prefer number two. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: Recipe for a Big Bang--
Start with the Regal Theater reclamation project
Add: One financier who likes calm order and the color beige.
One ad agency owner who likes free range for her creativity and can’t live without color.
Stir in: His desire to teach her control of her energy and emotions.
Her desire to use him in her silk boxer ad campaign.
Generously sprinkle with passion and snark.
Toss the mix into a pressure cooker and stand well back.
This is the second book in the steamy contemporary Manly Series featuring the DePaul men! If you enjoyed Leo and Juliette's love story in The Best Man, here's your chance to read about how Tony and Cleo first fell in love:
Tony DePaul runs his life like his investment firm—with strong hands and tight reins in both the boardroom and the bedroom. He wants no part of the high-profile renovation project that could damage his professional reputation and bankrupt a friend, especially since it looks like the advertising expert is going to require firm handling.
Clementine (Cleo) Waiteberry didn’t build a successful advertising agency by kowtowing to other peoples’ ideas of how things should be done or by standing around waiting for things to happen. What she wants, she goes after, and that includes getting a certain stodgy financier into her ad campaign for silk boxers. Joining the project risks her bank account and her heart, but a strong woman never backs down from a challenge.
From their first meeting, Tony itches to take this fluttery hummingbird in hand, but Cleo’s not about to sit still for anyone trying to clip her wings. Can he leverage what she wants from him to get what he wants from her, without compromising a demanding renovation project that could break everyone? ( )