Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback. The first half I found slow, the pace picked up in the 2nd half. It ended stronger.

I thought that this book had a good storyline but there were way too many details for me and that did actually spoil the flow for the story at times.

I did enjoy the story and the story has some really good characters that are well developed. The many characters become entwined with each other from past and present and that works really well.

The author has a good writing style but it could have been a little less detail for me and that would really have improved the flow but it was overall a really solid and enjoyable story.

I have not read the previous story and this one was fine to read as a stand alone too.

It is 4 stars from me for this one – very highly recommended!

This was a book about a lot of things. Clearly, the author has a real interest in HMO’s and managed healthcare, and this story follows Alonzo, the super lawyer who basically saves the firm.

While the book covers a lot of healthcare law brainstorming, it also comes with:
-Anti-LGBTQIA+ bias (I truly mean this; it had extremely offensive sections and themes);
-Christian lens and bias;
-dialogue that was repetitive and tedious;
-characters who were totally unhinged;
-a complete disrespect for sex workers;
-multiple uses of Yiddish slang without a Jewish character in sight;
-referring to anything Kama Sutra-related as sinning (even between spouses);
-and for a book that claims to be about lust (etc etc), it was door completely shut/can’t even refer to anatomically correct body parts by their names.

I wouldn’t recommend this read, unfortunately.

Edit: 3/1/23: the author has now reached out to me and does not like this review. She has asked me to remove it, and has threatened to get it taken down. Unfortunately, this was an honest review and I review books with integrity. Just because an author doesn’t like my review is no reason to remove it. Readers should know what they’re getting into if they choose to read reviews prior to reading. (And yes, I have receipts).

Aced is a great read with wonderful characters and fantastic world building. I was drawn into the story from the first paragraph and hated to put the book down even though I was unable to keep my eyes open. I picked up the book and was right back in thick of the story.