Mind Reader by Mimika Cooney Book Review

About the Book:

Clio Ambrosia's uncanny gift for reading people has made her the secret weapon of New York's power players. Known as the human lie detector, she's built her career decoding powerful CEOs and coaching top performers. A former figure skating prodigy turned executive coach, she's sharp, strategic, and impossible to rattle. But when a cutting-edge tech firm hires her to refine their emotional intelligence strategy, she meets Dillon Whelan, the one client her instincts can't predict.

Dillon Whelan built his success on logic, precision, and control. But Clio's insight threatens to upend everything he believes about leadership, and love. Their boardroom sparring crackles with wit and tension, each conversation a duel neither wants to lose.

Clio's sharp instincts are supposed to help him strengthen his team before a major launch. Instead, her quiet confidence and uncanny ability to see through his defenses have him rethinking every rule he's built his life on.

As professional lines blur and trust deepens, both must decide if love is worth risking the armor they've spent years perfecting. What begins as a razor-sharp war of words turns into a slow-burn romance that sweeps them from a glittering New York gallery and a tense escape room to a moonlit gala and the historic streets of York, England; blurring the lines between ambition and heart.

My Review:

This is an intense romance. The personal interactions are intense. The setting, the high stakes world of venture capital is intense. The romance itself moves rather slowly as it takes time for two people who value control to be willing to be vulnerable to love.

Clio was an interesting lead female. I could not really identify with her and her skills although I did enjoy learning about observing micro expressions closely to evaluate a person and understand their thoughts. She gets involved in venture capitalism pitches. That is something I know nothing about and I am still a bit confused after reading the novel. That whole world of high finance could have been explained a little better. Rather, the focus of the book is on the troubled romance between two powerful people. There is much character thought, both anticipating and reflecting and working through emotions. The world in which the novel takes place is advanced technology. Dialogue was terse and since within a world I know little about, sometimes did not understand it.

I found Cooney's writing style a little difficult to follow. Sentence structures sometimes left me wondering exactly what was being conveyed. I have read many of Cooney's previous books but they were all of the self-help style. This book is her initial venture into fiction. She does include healing of hurts as part of the plot.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author:

Mimika Cooney is an award-winning writer of 14 books with a global perspective. Born in South Africa and now based in the US, Mimika blends her background in neuroscience, entrepreneurship, photography, design, public speaking, performance coaching, and personal growth into stories that make you feel seen and heard. 

Mimika Media, 316 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)