Emily Arnott will do anything for her family--15 years ago, when they lost everything in the Black Crescent investment scandal, her mother left and started a new family without baggage. Her father threw himself into his work and left Emily to fend for herself and her brother, who has special needs. While she spends most of her time doing what is expected of her and taking care of everyone around her, Emily decides to throw caution to the wind one night in college and tries to have a fling with the man she’s always found irresistible, Matteo Velez. Matt brushes her off, and Emily has never forgotten how that made her feel. But even though years later she’s engaged to Matt’s biggest professional rival, Emily is unsure how she’ll ever be able to resist him again. . .

Matt may be the youngest CEO in the history of his investment firm, but he has his sights set on becoming the CEO of Black Crescent, the firm that has wreaked havoc on the families of Falling Brook, NJ, for years. He’s floored when he finds out Emily Arnott--the woman he regretted never giving a second chance--is engaged to the man he’s always considered his competition. Seeing Emily and discovering there’s more to her than her beauty and her family’s strained reputation, Matt knows this is more than trying to discount his enemy; he actually has feelings for Emily.

But Emily has a secret, one that could ruin her life and the lives of her father and brother, too. Matt knows something else is going on, but Emily won’t reveal anything to him. Can Emily learn to trust someone with her darkest secrets? Will Matt find a way to prove to Emily he’s more than the rich playboy everyone has him pegged as? As Emily and Matt dance around their growing attraction, they have to decide what they truly need in life--a love like no other or a safe and secure future. . .

RECKLESS ENVY by Joss Wood continues the enjoyable Dynasties: Seven Sins continuity series with an emotional whirlwind of a romance. Emily and Matt are two characters tangentially related to the overarching connecting storyline through this series--the devastating Black Crescent scheme that ruined families in a well-off New Jersey town, the ramifications that have rippled onward and outward for years. Emily has always done everything by the book, but when her family is threatened, she will do whatever she has to do to keep them safe and financially secure. . .  even if that means she’s engaged to someone she doesn’t love. Matt has always strived to be the best to prove to his family he’s worthy of their formidable name and wants everyone to know he can do whatever he sets his mind to do, be it running a successful investment firm or having the woman he let slip by years ago. Emily and Matt have an instant attraction and it’s fun to watch Matt convince Emily that she means more to him than just a conquest to one-up his business rival. Emily has a lot to worry about--her distant parents, her dependent brother, and her family’s reputation that’s on thin ice after they’ve tried to regain their status in their wealthy community. There are mentions of characters from earlier books and a few more things are added to the narrative that will surely come into play in the next books in the series, too. RECKLESS ENVY by Joss Wood is a dramatic and glamorous story and a fun addition to the Dynasties: Seven Sins series.

Book Summary