Going Down Hard

"Come on, princess. Live a little." - Derek WestGoing Down Hard is the 3rd book in the Billionaire Bad Boys series, and Derek is part of the trio of best friends who created a successful app-turned IPO, and he is now a billionaire. But, Derek comes from very humble beginnings. His mom was the maid, and his dad the gardener for a very wealthy family. He grew up in the guest house on their property. He was about the same age as their daughter Cassie, but of course they didn't run in the same circles. Also, he went to public school, and Cassie to private school. They crossed paths one night by the pool in the backyard, and he kissed her. He'd hoped for more, but something happened the next day to change his mind about her. Then they both left for college, and that was that.Flash forward a decade or so, and Cassie is the editor of an online tech magazine, owned by her family's multimedia company, which isn't doing that well. She has been trying to interview many CEOs, and other important people in the tech industry to give her magazine a higher profile. Derek notoriously doesn't do interviews, but she's hoping she can get him to make an exception for her. He agrees, to see her and, of course, sparks fly again, as they had in the past. But, she's still surprised when he agrees to let her write her story. Even when it means shadowing him for a while. But no one is more surprised than Derek himself!This was a bit of a second chance romance, since they knew each other before, though they were never really together in the past. I really liked their banter, and their chemistry felt really organic because of it. There were many misunderstandings between them from the past, but they moved through them like adults, after having an open communication. Imagine that! I really enjoyed that about them. They reacted to things like adults, and didn't jump to conclusions. There's nothing I hate more in a book than to feel that the entirety of the story's conflict could have been avoided with one simple conversation. There was none of that here.I liked seeing the characters from the prior stories in the series. Also, I really enjoyed some of the side characters in this story, especially Derek's mother. Meanwhile, Cassie's father and brother were wretched, and I wanted to reach through the book and punch them in the mouth every time they said something horrible, or thoughtless, to her. They were well written antagonists, and you could really feel their entitlement and their disdain for others. I hated them with a passion.I really enjoy Carly's writing, and her couples fit well together. There's great chemistry, and she really makes you feel what they are feeling. The pace felt good, and I loved the easy banter and dialogue between both the 2 main characters, and between Derek and his friends/partners. You can really feel how much the guys love and care about each other. It's nice to see truly close male friendships in books, and not just female ones!I would definitely recommend this book, and I'm very intrigued by the premise for book 4, Going In Deep. It will be quite the task to redeem Julian's character, as he was the villain of book 1! Looking forward to it!I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

OMG LOVED IT SOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!! WOW SOO MUCH WHIRLWIND CRAZINESS GOING ON LOL AND IT WAS REALLY NICE TO READ ABOUT KADE LEXIE AND KENDALL AND LUKAS AND MAXINE GETTING MARRIED AND HAVE A BABY ON THE WAY AND NOW GETTING TO READ ABOUT DEREK AND CASSIE AND THEIR STORY WOW SOO INTENSE WONDERFUL LOVE CRAZINESS WHAT HAPPENED TO DEREK'S FAMILY BECAUSE OF CASSIE'S FATHER THOUGHT HIS MOM DID WAS UNSPEAKABLE AND TO FIND OUT THAT ALL ALONG IT WAS SPENCER HER BROTHER THAT STOLE THE NECKLACE FROM THEIR OWN MOTHER WOW AND THEN SPENCER HIMSELF GOES AND WRITES THIS ARTICLE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND DEREK. AND MAKING HIM TO THINK THAT CASSIE DID IT BUT SHE DIDN'T AND THEN SHE CALLED HER WRITER AND GOT WHO IT WAS AND GOT IT ALL COVERED. BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENED NEXT WAS SURPRISING HER DAD GOING TO DEREK HIMSELF AND TELLING HIM THAT HE'S REALLY SORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING AND TOLD HIM THAT HE ACCEPTS THE OFFER AND THEN EVERYTHING WORKED OUT DEREK SAID YES AND THEN DEREK TOOK CASSIE OUT TO DINNER AT THE SAME RESTAURANT WERE THEIR FIRST DATE WAS SOO ROMANTIC AND TOLD HER EVERYTHING THAT HER DAD SAID AND THAT HE OWENS THE COMPANY BUT IS GIVING IT TO HER FOR A WEDDING PRESENT AWWW AND THAT THEY'RE TOGETHER FOREVER!!!!!😊😊😊 AND NEXT WE GET TO READ ABOUT KENDALL'S AND JULIAN'S STORY

This is an amazing addition to the Billionaire Bad Boys with the third partner in the Blink company, Derek West finding love with the girl whose family disgraced his, Cassie Storm. Years later Derek graduated from college starting their successful company, Blink, with his friends Lucas and Kade all he wanted to do was punish the Storm family for how they mistreated his family right before he went to college on a scholarship. Cassie had spoken badly about him when she was with her snobby friends when he worked for her family which made Derek dislike her as well. They accused his mother of stealing Mrs. Storm's necklace and had her arrested and fired her and his dad without any severance package. A while later his dad died and Derek blamed the Storms because they had no medical coverage to diagnose his illness until it was too late. Meanwhile Cassie regretted how she treated Derek when they last saw each other and wanted to apologize to him for years. She was running her family's magazine Take a Byte after her father gave the running of the family business to her brother who was an unemployed playboy when she worked there for years building the family business. Doing an interview with Derek West, who was now a billionaire and did not do interviews would help save their magazine which surprised her that he agreed to do it. Now she could say she was sorry and he could find out if he could finally put his past behind him by getting revenge or forgiving her and her family. This is where this sexy erotic romantic story begins with Derek and Cassie getting their happily ever after when they learn to forgive and love each other inspite of their past. I like how the three friends, Kade, Lucas and Derek are there for each other no matter what happens they will have each others back. The next book in this series puts Kade, Maxie and Kendall, her sister in a tense situation when Julian wants to prove his love for Kendall is real. He has to prove to them all that he has changed as well. I highly recommend this series of books as they are all very hot and romantic with just the right of excitement and action which makes for interesting stories.

I've said it before but it's worth repeating.... I am not a fan of billionaire/millionaire lead males in books BUT when it's Carly Phillips writing all bets are off and I'll happily read about these guys!Going Down Hard was another fab installment in the Billionaire Bad Boys series and I LOVED Derek and Cassie's story. It was hot and steamy second chance romance (which I AM a fan of) and it brought out all the feels.We had met Derek in the previous books but still knew little about him. The influence of his parents, the difficulties he faced growing up and his determination all saw his life transformed from what it was when he first knew to Cassie as a teenager to what it was today.Cassie's family were pretty horrible. High expectations, lacking in care and attention and oblivious to how they made their daughter feel, they were never gonna win parent of the year, ever!When they first get together it purely from a business POV but as they spend time together they both discover there's more to the other than they thought and hearts and messy emotions come into play.A well written story, with great characters, loaded with emotion, attraction, heat and angst, this is a must read! From the teaser set up towards the end of the book I cannot wait for the next installment in this great series.5*

Cassie and Derek story is brilliant loved reading about them.How they knew each other since they were kids and they say they grew up. Different back grounds but now Derek is a billionaire Cassie wants to write a story. But things don't always run smoothly as Cassie brother gets in the way and causes trouble.

Another great read from Carly PhillipsDerick and Cassie had a connection from they were teenagers and then college and life got in there way but when Cassie calls for a meeting Derick can't say no he is livid and curious as to why.Cassie is nervous when she sees Derick after all this time and is appalled at her behaviour when she was young, but after meeting him the spark is still there and can they get by their past to see if they have a futureI like these two very much they both have good hearts and deserve happinessCan't wait to read about Julian and Kendall

Pre-purchased this in November. Popped into my library today and although cover and title page is for Book 3. The actual book is Book 2. Can you let me know what has happened please and how I can download Book 3 without paying again. Many thanks

This story is my favourite of the series so far. It really sucked me in and kept me engaged throughout. It was also quick and easy to read. Had very little in the way of angst and both main characters Derek and Cassie were likable, shared a spark and some hot moments. It also left me excited for Kendall and Julian's story and I would happily recommend it to others.