Diana Nguyen
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Charmaine Pauls expands the Diamond Magnate world by finally shining a light on Leon Hart, the second oldest brother in the Hart family. With Damian, Zoe, and Ian already living their happily ever afters, Leon is ready to settle down and find the one. Leon certainly excels at being mysterious, controlling, confident, knowing exactly who he wants—and he has set his eyes on obtaining Violet Starley. I had been waiting for Leon's book ever since he dropped that tiny revelation about wanting a pair of diamond earrings from Damian in Stolen Love. Now we know who it was really for. I loved finding all these details that make the story's world much more memorable, engaging, and enriching. This small taste of Leon's desires, ambitions, and ultimately his motivation for revenge has me excited for the conclusion to his story. The book does end with a nail-biting cliffhanger but thankfully, the conclusion to Leon and Violet's story in Imperfect Affections will be released in June.
Carissa
This one is a bit different for Leon, the middle brother of the brothers but second child of the Hart family. They all had their HEA, so Leon is next! I loved this one, fast paced and I just loved how swoony Leon is. By the end I need to find out how things are going to plot out with the "betrayal" of Violet. I can't wait! Leon seems he is going to flip his lid! I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book.
Katie Friend
Charmaine Pauls delivers yet another enticing entry into the Diamond Magnate world with this start to a duet featuring enigmatic middle brother Leon, resident tech genius and now our anti-hero. Imperfect Intentions is a delectable beginning to a fiery and complicated romance duet that has lots of dark promise. This story had a decidedly different vibe than the others in the series as far as our narrative story- gone are the car chases, stealthy missions, edgy violence and near death escapes, instead we have a deceivingly placid big technology corporate workplace story. Leon is now working as a programmer, hoping to design the next big app in order to gain a much coveted promotion to partner of the company. Instead of a Hart brother being a criminal on the run like we’ve seen of late, we now have an ambitious and hard-working Hart brother playing more on the “legitimate” side of business. At least on the surface…. But his stoic resolve is soon challenged by his desire for the enchanting Violet Starley, the step-daughter of his boss. Something in her calls to him, and in his haste to respect his boss and keep his intentions legitimate, he finds himself more than just wooing the deceivingly gentle Violet- she’s, in fact, all teeth and fire. While Leon is perhaps a bit more on the “up and up” as his brothers, he still has that magnetic Hart charisma. He’s enigmatic, self-assured, assertive, calculating and controlling. Like the Harts we’ve met, when he wants something, he’ll move mountains to get it. He’s devoted years to this promotion, and now he’s setting his sights on Violet, and once he does we have all that caveman possession and gentle manipulation we love about a Charmaine hero. He’s somehow both swoony and domineering- quite a magnetic combination. Truthfully, he’s the easiest Hart to love (there were times when I wanted to yell at Violet to just go with it- he’s that damn charming). His desire certainly rings of insta-love/lust, but Charmaine evolves their connection as his admiration of Violet becomes more substantial. He’s got lot of layers to him, this mysterious Leon Hart, and I can’t wait to uncover more. Violet certainly gives him a run for his money. When we first meet her, we see a heroine beat down and sheltered. As the result of her disability, she had a challenging childhood, and she’s saddled with the twin weights of the guilt she carries over the sacrifices her mother made to secure her future and her burning desire to escape her family and live a life of her choosing. But her moments of fragile physical presence have nothing on the ferocity of her character. She’s capable, desperately independent, steely and at times downright sassy. While she is a character I admire for all she’s navigated- she’s truly trapped in a den of wolves and complicit sheep- I did struggle with her at times. Leon is a bit tame and incredibly charming- I found her repulsion of him to feel a bit unwarranted at first, though I understood the story she created about him, false as it may be. He’s whole heartedly dreamy towards her- even though again I understand how she sees herself transition from one prison to another. And I felt disappointed at how easily she fell prey to the machinations of our “villain”- for the fortitude we saw in her, I wanted more. Though again this is about her baggage- and her own guilt for once overshadowed her independence and drive. As far as chemistry and story goes, this one felt like a lot of exposition. Just when things felt like they were just picking up, this careened to a cliffhanger that will set up our conclusion, which given the foreshadowing we’ve seen will most certainly take on more of the dark, alphahole Hart flair we’ve seen before.
