The Mastermind : A Brother’s Best Friend Romance by Nadia Han
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Remi is living in a dark place, a billionaire who has strived to be the best and hide his past, but he has always had a core group of friends who have been there through all the issues with his dad and stepfamily especially his bully of a stepbrother.

He always felt safe and wanted at his friend Graysen’s house, with Mrs Wu always trying to feed them up and show warmth and love he did not have at his own home. As the year’s went on and college came and went Remi built his empire up around the Waterfront of his youth, but now will his past come back and the darkness seep deeper.

Audri Wu has always been the only girl in the group of boys that were constantly at her house, but she has always had a soft spot for Remi. While working at her job she becomes the target of harassment, although she has been to HR nothing really gets sorted but then suddenly there is an announcement that the company has been sold and in walks Remi, but as the chemistry between the two of them intensifies can they make a relationship work or will the past shatter it wide open.

This is the first time I have read anything by this author, and I loved the story and the characters. Remi and Audri’s characters complimented each other brilliantly with the dark and light. I love a forbidden love story and with the twist within this story just had me turning the pages to get to the thrilling parts, although I enjoyed the story it did in my opinion took a while to get going but I understand the backstory had to be told as this led them to this part.

The secondary characters where also a brilliant added addition and hope that this series grows so we get to see the other friends’ lives expanded and delve into the world of the Waterfyre in more detail.