Aiden pulled himself up by he bootstraps and is the man he is today because if it, but when ends up killing a deal that Alexis worked so hard on, she ends up getting drunk and waking up in that very man’s penthouse. Watch these two circle one another and give into the chemistry they obviously have for one another is fun and tantalizing. Hang on to that thought though - it does end up in a cliffhanger.

WOWZA! I read a lot of books, A LOT OF BOOKS! After awhile no matter the genre it's all the same. This book had elements that could have made it a been there, done that but it was AMAZING. I think the writing had a lot to do with that.

Adrian Pierce has it all, success, fame, fortune. He's made it and he goes back home with NOTHING to prove but right some wrongs. Alexis Green has EVERYTHING to prove. After becoming a widow, she's out to show the world she can make it on her own. When she meets Adrian both are completely thrown off and the chemistry is combustible.

This book has it all. You're kept on the edge of your seat with action packed drama of the best kind. You'll also be warmed by how beautiful of a love story this is. Excellent writing and the steamy scenes are done with class.

WOW ... just WOW .... This is my first book by MJ Woods and I devoured it! I ususally will not read a known cliffhanger, but the blurb had me interested so I dove in and I was not disappointed.

i thought that it was a lot like 50 shades but slower. I will not be reading the other books. It was ok but i thought it was similar.

Balance started out moving REALLY slowly in the first few chapters, but it picked up after awhile and got interesting. Alexis is a widow whose husband died a year and a half ago when she meets sexy businessman, Aidan. She's a smart, independent attorney following in her father's footsteps and he's got his hands in tons of different pies, business speaking that is. When they end up working together their attraction is instant, but their relationship isn't going to be an easy one because he's controlling and dominating and she's strong and really independent.

Aidan has secrets that he doesn't let Alexis in on and in the end of the book, they come back to bite him in the ass. The cliffhanger is pretty predictable, as once his ex was introduced you just knew she'd become a serious problem. Throw in the problems Aidan is going through with her father and you've got a nicely mysterious romance going on.

I'm rooting for Aidan and Alexis, and am anxiously awaiting the 2nd part of their story.

Title: Balance
Author: MJ Woods
Publisher/Year: Dog Ear Publishing 11/21/16
Length: 258 Pages
Series: The Amped Series #1

Overview

Aidan Pierce has nothing to prove, and everything to lose.

He's a success in everything he does.

A prodigy disguised in a stunning male form.

Intense. Passionate. Wealthy, almost beyond measure. He's back in his birthplace to right long ago wrongs, to bring a plan years in the making to fruition...

Until he meets Alexis Greene. Tipping her world off its axis, he unexpectedly upends his own.

Alexis Greene has everything to prove, and nothing left to lose. She graduated at the top of her law school class. She's beautiful. Ethical. Conservative, but not shy with four letter words. She's set to make her mark in a prominent firm in Lake County when her husband unexpectedly dies. She's left conflicted and wanting more from life, without knowing what more there could ever be...

Until she meets Aidan Pierce. His past would never allow him to be something more - not for anyone. That doesn't stop him from wanting her. If she fell into his world it would take everything she had to maintain her Balance.

My Thoughts

First - again i have to thank the folks over at Netgalley for getting me a copy of this first installment to yet another series. What we have here is a story of two people who of course have a haunted past and a less than easy present, and when their paths cross, things get interesting.

We meet Aiden first when he's having a flash back to when he was 8 years old and was reliving an experience with his drunk father. Then that turns into a nightmare of the day his brother died in a car crash. We know that his upbringing was tough, and of course that means that he's going to turn into quite the successful billionaire and business man - partially with the help of his mother's husband.

Then there's Alexis, our leading lady who we meet in a flashback of the day that her husband ben dies - which we learn was due to an aneurysm. Our author makes sure to note that she doesn't react as expected but that's all going to come out later in the story.

So where we go in this first installment to the series is that we're in a small town in New York state where Alexis is a lawyer trying to make a name for herself as she's just taken over her father's firm now that she's passed the Bar and he's passed away. Aiden is also in town as he's trying to build a Center for the locals to go to learn skills to keep them from becoming what his father was.

These two trouble folks mean one thing - once they come together, there will be so much pent up pain and frustration to make any semblance of sexual tension explode - and it happens of course.

Alexis allows Aiden into her mind and heart - allows him to know her innermost secrets, especially those that surround her marriage, and in turn, he gives her a glimpse into what he was like before becoming what he is now. Neither story is nice but i think that it gives us all a better understanding of what we're up against.

If that wasn't all, there's also this underlying plot line if an energy company that wants to get their hands on some land in their town to do some drilling, under the guise of another company name and motive. When Aiden thwarts that, Alexis of course is pissed since it's her money that he's hurting, until she learns why. Then another deal comes along, but Aiden seems to think that there's still quite a bit of danger around them all and wants Alexis to be careful. We don't get to the bottom of this story line in this first book but it's lingering and definitely interesting.

Then there's the other story line of Stella - Aiden's ex and while we know the capacity of their relationship, there's a lot of secrets around that which Aiden is keeping from Alexis and when it all comes to a head, we see her shut him out and the question becomes will he be able to grovel and get her to come back. So on that note, i now have to wait until the next book comes out to see what happens.

I was really excited after reading the description of this book, but it is slow. Like...incredibly slow. I ended up having to call it quits because after a quarter of the book, nothing notable happened. The characters have potential. Their personalities are intriguing, but the action is lacking. Also, it's written in first person present tense which always fails to pull me into the story. It's too stilted and distracting.

Balance
M.J. Woods

Damn! Now I have to wait to find out what happens with Alexis and Aiden. This is book one of three. And this is the start of the relationship.
Aiden Pierce is a super successful businessman and all his hard work has made him a billionaire. Alexis Greene is a small town lawyer who is trying to make a name for herself after losing her husband unexpectedly.
Aiden ruined a business deal that Alexis had been working on for over a year. She gets super drunk after finding out her deal was ruined and woke up the next morning in Aidens penthouse. And their relationship continues from there.
M.J. Woods did an awesome job writing this one. Definitely pulled me right in and I can't wait for book 2 to be released this spring.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book. This is a romance book complicated by some suspense. The book has some resemblance to the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. The characters are well-described and easy to relate with. Overall, I recommend this book for an easy reading, when it will be released. Just be aware that this is the first book of the series.

This was an okay read for me. I liked the characters and the story is good but the progression is very slow. Aidan and Alexis are great characters but some of this seems like fill to get to the next book.

There were definitely things I liked and enjoyed about this book. I found myself torn between a 3 and 4 star. The deciding factor was the extreme cliff-hanger ending and the lack of any resolution for the reader. I can't recommend it for that reason. Most readers want at least a bit of conclusion. This feels rather like a blatant, "buy my next book" ploy and most resent that type of non-ending. Give at least some type of resolution. Maybe for some minor plot points with secondary characters. Also, the character development of potentially interesting side-characters was not well-done. There is a two dimensionality to most of the characters in this book. Needs a bit more work before it would be 4 stars for me.

I received this book free from Netgalley. It was not required that I review it.
I will be honest. I did not finish this story. I really wanted to like it. I saw that it had several good reviews. I just really could not get into it. The writing seemed rather juvenile to me. I didn't really find the characters to be very well developed and found that while I usually just love to read, I couldn't really remember what I was reading when I would pick my Kindle back up to start reading again. I finally just stopped reading it, as it just didn't grab my attention. Hopefully you have better luck when reading it. I got to about 60% of it.

I tried really hard to like this book. The description sounded interesting, and I was looking forward to it.

Unfortunately after reading a quarter of the book I find that absolutely nothing has happened. I can't take anymore reading about every bit of clothing she puts on or that her dog walks across the room or every single ring of someone's phone. I mean, give the reader a break here! Make something happen that means something! The book is rather long, so even reading a quarter of it was an investment of time.

The book starts out with double tragedies that shape the lives of the main characters. The action stops after the first one is explained, and things slow down to a snail's pace. A lot of what happens after that is somewhat confusing. We don't know how Aiden's fortune changed dramatically or why Alexis had such a strange sounding marriage. I suppose the reader will make sense of it at some point. But I just can't get mired in any more minutiae. I have to quit here and move on to another book.

Good luck to the author finding a following. I doubt this book will develop one for her unless she employs a ruthless editor who can cut through all of the misdirection and word diarrhea to get to the story. I'll pass on her work for now.

3.5 Stars - But I bumped it up to 4 because Aidan is so damned yummy!!!

This was one long book. And the burn was slow. I think it took to like 55% before our main characters even kissed. By the time I got to 80% I realized that I had forgotten this was only Book 1.

The writing was well done. I really liked the characters. Our heroine is plucky, sassy, strong, foul-mouthed at times, and pretty darn self-confident. Our hero....sigh. Aidan is amazing. But he has secrets - and you only get a little glimpse at what those truly are. Aidan is devastatingly good looking, rich beyond measure. He speaks Italian when he wants to, and can play the drums (which was an awesome scene by the way). He is definitely not the dark, brooding type, but he is all about the control and can be dominating, but not in a heartless way.

The cliffhanger this ends on I saw coming a mile away. However, I am definitely on board for the next book. I HAVE to find out all the secrets and get me some more delicious Aidan!

This is a serial CLIFFHANGER!!! With two, maybe three more books in the series.

Aiden Pierce is a gazillionaire. He dabbles in many things, has multiple offices, companies, houses, cars, security details in New York and California. His past is never fully revealed. We get glimpses of the darkness but not full disclosure of his younger years. He is in his hometown to build a safe haven for kids to go to for support, encouragement and an escape from whatever they are dealing with. Aiden keeps people at arms length. He is a bossy, arrogant, take-charge guy who also speaks fluent Italian. Think Christian Grey without the BDSM aspect.

Alexis Greene is a lawyer, following in her father’s footsteps. She is intelligent, independent, speaks her mind and doesn’t like when decisions are made for her.

When Aiden and Alexis meet, they are instantly attracted. Aiden struggles with her insistence on independence and Alexis struggles with his controlling, take charge personality. This is a slow burn romance but when it finally ignites, it explodes. Steam practically rises from the pages.

I absolutely adore Charlie. He is the perfect best friend for Alexis. Somehow you just new Stella and her daddy were going to throw a wrench in the cogs.

This is an awesome debut novel. It is well written, flows well and the characters are fully developed. All the supporting characters served a purpose and fit in with the story. Love the Tedeschi Trucks Band!!! The next installment can’t get here soon enough!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy provided by NetGalley.

I finished this last night and had to ask myself what the hell did I just read? This is one hell of a story. And it's not over. Yes, this is Book One in the Amped Series.

We meet Aiden briefly first as a young boy, then as an adult as he returns to his hometown in Central New York State and with a charitable foundation as his base, wants to build a center for at risk youth in the area. Aiden is wealthy, handsome and has multiple business holdings. Aiden too has nightmares, we get a glimpse of. Aiden presents himself to the local Bar Association Meeting, feeling his best strategy is to align himself legally with the local attorneys, knowing too that he wants the land his Uncle's farm sits on and at the moment it is being negotiated for by Alexis and an out of state company who wants to build homes. So they say. Aiden talks to his Uncle and lets him know what exactly this company does, his Uncle is a simple man, so in his own way, stalls Alexis a little. Meanwhile her friend drags her to this bar association meeting, which she does not want to attend and she catches Aiden's eye. When the chair of the bar decides to gather a fact finding board, good old Louise, her gal pal nominates her for the chair role. She's dumbfounded. And not happy. Alexis has been a widow for two years, she's happily homed with her sweet and very large Bernese and is starting her legal practice in her late father's building. She has a wingman named Charlie who is a great guy and a ball buster for sure and a dingbat secretary who she wants to fire every 5 minutes but Charlie manages to talk her out of it.
I loved Alexis, she is a no bullshit, take no prisoners, intelligent woman who knows what she wants and quickly catches onto lies. Aiden too seems totally smitten with Alexis for those very same reasons, which is a first for him. He initially shares nothing of his past with her, but then slowly does. They both allow each other into their secrets and a trust begins. I loved their dialogue, it may seem lengthy but it helps develop them as characters and their backstories as well.
Aiden has a couple of issues that he is not forthcoming with Alexis about, one is a business matter, another is an ex who is apparently out of his life, but there is some connection there, one apparently financial from the girls father and he's a dirty SOB. Aiden wants to take him down. Alexis has a family matter than requires her to fly to Arizona asap; which serves Aiden well because he's going to fly to Cali to get his ex and get her in a treatment program, all this without telling Alexis. So he's gone a week. She's gone a week, he joins her on his private jet and they fly home. He's out of sorts, looks tired etc. She decides to go home, the next morning she gets slammed with something she least expects. And there is where my jaw hits the floor. Which is saying a lot.

Hard to believe this is a debut novel from MJ Woods. Her writing is smooth and the book pretty much has it all. There's a nice steam factor going on here too. Can't leave that out.
Yes you should read this book! Then pass it to a friend.
I am more than ready for book two.

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**