The Invitation

4.5 stars -THE INVITATION by Vi Keeland is a stand alone, contemporary adult, erotic, romance story line focusing on businessman Hudson Rothschild, and perfumist Stella Bardot. Told from dual first person perspectives (Hudson and Stella) THE INVITATION follows the building romance between businessman Hudson Rothschild, and perfumist Stella Bardot. A misdirected invitation finds our heroine, Stella Bardot, along with her best friend Fisher, crashing the swanky New York wedding of Olivia Rothschild and Mason Royce wherein Stella would meet businessman Hudson Rothschild, the man with whom she would fall in love but all is not well when Hudson discovers that Stella is an uninvited guest, posing as someone else, and the fall-out almost paralyzes our heroine’s future. Needing some start up for her own perfume company, Stella must face down Hudson Rothschild, and our hero wants nothing to do with our story line heroine. What ensues is the building professional, personal and romantic relationship between Hudson and Stella, and the potential fall-out as Hudson’s life is about to spiral out of control when his past reveals betrayal and deceit. Hudson Rothschild is a single father who shares custody of his daughter with his former wife. Struggling with the failure of his marriage, Hudson battles between head and heart when it comes to Stella Bardot, in the face of her deception, secrets and lies but a successful launch of Stella’s perfume company finds our couple working towards their own happily ever after. Stella Bardot knows betrayal first hand having found her ex-fiance in a compromising position but it was not only her ex-fiance that destroyed her heart. Our heroine likes to collect journals and diaries, and in this, Stella lives the lives of the people, from the pages inside. The relationship between Hudson and Stella begins as a lie, and struggles in the face of Stella’s deceit. A quick building professional relationship leads to a slow building romance but Hudson is about to face a betrayal that may affect their relationship going forward. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to Hudson’s sister Olivia Rothschild, who is the catalyst pushing Stella towards a successful business launch. Fisher is Stella’s best friend and confident, and Jack is Hudson’s best friend is the VP of a large media conglomerate. THE INVITATION is a story of betrayal and deceit; secrets and lies; business and pleasure; romance and love. The premise is imaginative, inviting, decadent and not without some twists and turns; the romance is spicy and sexy; the characters are sassy, flirty and spirited.

You know a book is very special when it stays with you long after the final words have been read and The Invitation is really a very special read. It has characters you will fall hard and fast for, it has all the feels you would expect in a great read and a story that will captivate you from the first page to the last line and as I said I’m sure you will be thinking about Hudson and Stella long after you have finished this wonderful story. I’m not going to write a review that full of spoilers because I believe this romance needs to be read with no preconceived ideas you need to pick this book up like me and reads it first hand with your own eyes. What I will say is this couple intrigued me and as I read each page I knew I couldn’t put this book down and that’s how come I was still up at 3am so be warned make sure you have time to finish what you start because believe me once you meet Hudson and Stella all else goes out the window. This book touched me on so many levels, the chemistry is intense, the passion is steamy and the banter is witty. Another sure sign of a special read is when you can’t stop reading but you don’t want the book to end and that’s how I felt about The Invitation and I guess I do need to mention the most epic epilogue I have ever read....... it may only be the middle of January but The Invitation will be on my top reads of 2021 so I urge you all to one click this gem. Vi Keeland once again gives us a wonderful start to the year with this epic read.

I absolutely love a good “Meet Cute” and Vi Keeland always delivers and she did not let me down with her latest The Invitation. A wedding invitation came in the mail addressed to Stella’s ex-roommate, her best friend Fisher talks Stella into crashing the wedding. Let the fun begin!! Stella meets the very HOT Hudson at the wedding she crashes, the chemistry is immediate! They talk and dance, but Stella has a feeling that he knows she is not who she says she is. And she would be right actually it is his sister’s wedding and the person she says she is used to work for him. Hudson puts her on the spot by calling on her to say a few words about the bride, Stella pulls this hilarious story out of thin air, which amuses Hudson. Immediately after she tells Fisher that they HAVE to go unfortunately leaving behind her cell phone on the table. Hudson contacts her so she can pick up her phone that he has. So many details I would love to share but gosh I want you to enjoy it as much as I did the first time reading it. From the first page to the last Stella and Hudson’s story totally captivated me, the passion and chemistry was explosive. There was an amazing cast of secondary characters Hudson’s daughter Charlie, his sister Olivia and Stella become great friends, and Stella’s bestie Fisher they all complemented the story. The Invitation is a standalone contemporary office romance. It’s told from both POV’s with an absolutely perfect happy ending that just melted my heart!!