A handsome, rich, successful ad exec tormented by his past discovers that, contrary to the slogan, what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay there.

Royce’s first book in her Neon Diaries series features Craig Keller, one of four partners (another partner is Jane, his spicy second wife) in a midsize advertising agency in Santa Monica, California. Craig was not the favorite child of brilliant, wealthy serial cheater Donovan C. Keller; the preferred son and heir apparent to his father’s law firm was the now-deceased Donovan James “D.J.” Keller. After the elder Donovan’s sudden death, it’s Craig who speaks at his father’s memorial service, calling him “brutal, unforgiving, full of rage and fury.” In attendance are countless friends and business associates—platinum-haired, steely-eyed Luuk Van Ness was both. Craig muses that though Luuk “was something of an unofficial godfather,” he never knew if he could trust him. Luuk owns the Regal Oasis, a high-end Las Vegas resort; in the late 1980s, Donovan successfully defended a mobster who was an Oasis regular. Donovan’s law practice made him incredibly wealthy, and D.J. would have taken the firm over had it not been for a tragedy nearly 30 years earlier. It was Craig’s 17th birthday, and he and D.J. and some of D.J.’s law school buddies were partying until they passed out on Donovan’s yacht. When D.J. came to and the waves got choppy, he looked below deck for Craig. Instead of his brother, he found a tall, burly man and bags of cocaine. “Dude, you’re…running dope on my father’s yacht?” D.J. blurted out. They fought and toppled into the water, close to the yacht’s propeller; only body parts were found. Craig blames himself for his brother’s death. He is haunted by the tragedy, to the point of thinking he sees his brother from time to time. He constantly worries about losing others, even Jane, who pledges she is his (even though she, like him, has an adulterous past). When their ad agency gets involved with Luuk and his chain-smoking son Hendrik on the rebranding of the Oasis, jealousy mounts, as does danger, particularly when a mobster who went to jail due to a mistake made by Donovan’s firm is paroled.

Though the novel is plot-driven, it has rich character development. There are enough characters—​casino kingpins, mobsters, ad agency staff, ​and family members—to stir up the story and lead to sequels, but not so many that a scorecard is needed. Aside from Craig’s four children (two with Jane, two with the ex), no one is beyond reproach. Every character is compelling, particularly Craig, who “could dazzle clients by being good-looking and glib,” and Hendrik, whose shoulder-length blond hair streams down “like rays of light.” The language can be gritty, and the sex can get steamy—Jane has a thing for getting her clothes ripped off. Rich descriptions fill the narrative: Craig’s teeth are “unusually straight and white, with slightly elongated canines”; Jane calls them his “vampire teeth.”

A graphic, gripping start to a new series.

An advertising hotshot locks horns with a former fling in this workplace romance.

Craig Keller’s life is complicated. Though he’s the sexy and successful owner of one of Los Angeles’ hottest ad agencies and has money to burn, the 40-year-old also has twice-weekly therapy appointments. He must finally deal with the traumatic death of his beloved older brother (not to mention Craig’s issues with his father) and a custody arrangement for his two young children with his ex-wife, a frigid former model. Things only get worse when Hayden Towne, the “agency siren” with whom Craig’s been enjoying a red-hot affair, reveals post-coitus that she’s leaving the agency and poaching his clients to start her own firm. Determined not to let Hayden topple him professionally, Craig approaches competing agency Mitchell Vance & Mercer about a potential merger, so together they can conquer the increasingly digital world of advertising. The only problem? One of the partners, stunning redhead Jane Mercer, is also an ex-lover of Craig’s—and as she’s now married, she doesn’t want daily contact with him. Though Jane relents and the merger proceeds, she doesn’t want anything to do with Craig until one fateful day when their tentative truce turns hotly physical. But what happens when the once-irrepressible bad boy starts catching feelings for his new colleague? Royce grew up in LA and once worked as a Las Vegas marketing and PR executive, and clearly the fast pace and constant drama of the world are as enjoyable for her to write about as they are to read. But it’s difficult to root for a character that is dubbed a “sexist pig” in the first few pages and, over the course of the book, does very little to remedy that image. Craig comments on the appearance of nearly every woman he encounters and crosses professional boundaries more than once—including a one-night stand with a potential business partner, an older woman whom he describes in insulting terms. He never really seems to change even when that stasis means hurting others.

An intriguing but uneven love story.

In this novel, a woman attempts to maintain a relationship and her career when her new boss turns out to be a former lover.

Jane Mercer has it all. Having worked her way up from receptionist, Jane is vice president at Warren Mitchell advertising agency, a company on the verge of an IPO, which could prove very lucrative for her. On the personal side, she has found the love of her life, Derek Lowell, a professional violinist. Derek’s main flaw seems to be his inability to handle Jane’s previous affair with rich, handsome, and married Craig Keller, owner of Keller Whitman Group, a competitor in the ad industry. Though the affair happened long before the couple got together, the thought of Jane sleeping with a married man is problematic for Derek. A chance meeting with Craig and the very public spectacle of the entrepreneur’s impending divorce have Derek on edge. Meanwhile, Jane starts questioning if she still has feelings for Craig, despite the humiliation of knowing she was just one of hundreds he seduced. As Craig begins to toy with Jane, alluding to the potential of a relationship redo, the very real issue of his company absorbing hers plays out, making him her new boss. Jane finds herself in the precarious position of trying to keep her job and resist his seductive charms. Royce has crafted a relatable story of a past relationship coming back to haunt and possibly threaten the new one, a conundrum many readers will no doubt have found themselves in a time or two. Though Jane does lie to preserve her relationship, one might excuse her decision, given her past is being unfairly held against her. Still, it’s not the main character’s deceit that raises flags, but the author’s characterization of Craig as a gorgeous, “dastardly” womanizer when he’s actually a narcissistic predator, preying on Jane’s inability to resist his toxic charms. Character depiction aside, Royce does a great job of developing the plot, culminating in a satisfying conclusion

An entertaining romance; the voice and writing will definitely keep the pages turning.