Hard Sell

An LGBTQ Romance (Jade Harbour Capital, Book 1)

By: Hudson Lin

Narrated by: Tyler Tetsuda

One night wasn't enough.

Danny Ip walks into every boardroom with a plan. His plan for struggling tech company WesTec is to acquire it, shut it down, and squeeze the last remaining revenue out of it for his Jade Harbour Capital portfolio. But he didn’t expect his best friend’s younger brother - the hottest one-night stand he ever had - to be there.

Tobin Lok has always thought the world of Danny. He’s funny, warm, attractive - and totally out of Tobin’s league. Now, pitted against Danny at work, Tobin might finally get a chance to prove he’s more than just Wei’s little brother.

It takes a lot to get under Danny’s skin, but Tobin is all grown up in a way Danny can’t ignore. Now, with a promising patent on the line and the stakes higher than ever, all he can think about is getting Tobin back into his bed - and into his life for good.

If only explaining their relationship to Wei could be so easy....

©2021 Hudson Lin (P)2021 Recorded Books

Hard Sell - Family Drama

My favorite part of Hudson Lin's Hard Sell is the family drama. I loved Tobin's mom, truly endearing.

There's a lot going on in the story. Between Danny hiding stuff from Tobin, Tobin and Danny hiding their relationship from their family, Cyrus and his machinations... like I say, it's a lot. Darker elements pop in here and there, with wheeling and dealing a plenty. Danny finally is forced to face up to some of his motivations in an interesting turning point.

The cast of supporting characters could each get a book of their own.

Really enjoyable romance!

I really enjoyed this one! A very sweet story. Danny and Tobin are well-rounded characters who I understood and liked. I’ll be checking out the rest of this series for sure. The narration was also really well-done.

Great Story

Loved the book. Two childhood friends who lost their way to each other made way to become more. Wonderful ending to a great story.

Thoughtfully narrated, nicely conceived

When it comes to romance novels, one thing is usually a given - white, white, white. There are some authors who try to incorporate a broader representation, but all to often it falls flat. Enter Hudson Lin, who brings an authenticity to the family dynamic to this Chinese led love story.

Tyler Tetsuda does a solid job navigating a wide range of characters and accents without anyone becoming a caricature. He deftly adds humor to Tobin's parents while allowing others around them to grumble in a very believable way.

As for the story, well it gets a bit tortured. Much of the story revolves around Danny Ip, a star at Jade Harbor Capital and how he has lost his passion for his work. His hot streak has ended, and he needs a big deal now. As the story starts, it feels solid. Danny is the shark circling prey, a company called WesTec. Trouble begins when Danny unexpectedly finds himself in a meeting with Tobin Lok, someone he has pined over for years, and had a one night stand with nine years prior. Tobin is the younger brother of Dannys best friend Wei. Tobin works for an accounting firm that specializes in turning around failing businesses. This is Tobin's first time leading a team to save a company. So we have a great premise, simmering feelings, risky family dynamic, two men with something to prove fighting to win. Should be a slam dunk. And is some ways it comes close.

We learn that Danny was the son of a single mother who worked tirelessly for her son, Tobin came from a very wealthy family - who incidentally brought Danny into the fold at a young age and still treats him as one of their own. Where we start to go astray is Lin's desire to have Tobin question the ethics of capitalism as a part of his relationship. Danny is rolling in money, Tobin doesn't want to be bought, his family is rich. In fact, Tobin is so over it, that he left home on his own, cutting financial ties with his family to be his own man. Noble, but he spends a lot of time hand wringing of what does being in the investment capitol business say about Danny's character, blah, blah, blah. Now, I will admit that I am a receptive audience to conversations on why capitalism is a highly flawed system that is alway pushing downward. But a 350ish page romance novel isn't really the place to delve into such a topic.

There is a lot of, we can't do this again nonsense. Danny is worried about how Tobin's brother and parents will react, after all they are his only family. Rather than being a partner and telling Danny he will stand by his side and everything will be ok, he also waffles. Yes, my brother/mother/father won't like it, or how can Danny be a good person and do what he does for a living, he must not be who I thought he was. As the story continues, Tobin becomes more inflexible towards Danny to the point that he is fairly unlikable for a chunk of the story.

Lin did not need to be so heavy handed with this approach. While she wrote some beautiful misery, I really get tired of Tobin and I had a hard time rooting for him. For all of his griping in the story that no one see him as an adult, it doesn't help that he is pretty dang immature and simplistic. Of course the story does resolve itself. Sadly, we get more of the WesTec's owner's divorce than we get of Tobin's parents, who Danny thinks of as second parents. We needed more of them. And honestly, more of Danny expressing his fears to them - they make it clear how important he is to them, but they never really talk.

The other oddity for a romance novel is how little physical description there is. I think Lin talks about nipples a couple of times, and Danny's rough hands, but I never felt that I had a understanding of them in the way romance writers make sure we do. We know Danny is muscular, but Hudson had an opportunity to go beyond that and remind the audience that Asian men are sexy, with the exception of their names, honestly, these guys could have been white. Certainly nothing about them made me connect them in any way to the cover photo.

Overall, any satisfaction is thanks to the narrator. A little less business, a lot less pontification, and more time with family and friends could have help balance this fraught story. Guarded recommendation..