Review of Masked Intent: A Modern-Day Morality Play

[Donna Walker]

Masked Intent: A Modern-Day Morality Play is a non-fiction novel divided into five acts. It is not to be confused with your average romance. It is an intricately woven drama that takes a deep look at the inauthenticity at play in interpersonal relationships. Author Kimberly Greer opens each act with a short narration. The story is then told from the alternating perspectives of Alexa and Mateo.

Alexa, a divorcee with three children, works at a small, exclusive PR firm, Storey|Fischer|Stone, that has clients with questionable moral ethics or a lack of them. Alexa is new to the firm. Her lifelong friend and partner at the firm, Sam Stone, recently convinced her to come and work there. It is here that she is dealing with her train wreck client, HedgeCo, and her intolerable boss, Sydell.

College professor and closet millionaire Mateo De Rocha has been getting closer to her over the past few months. Despite being instantly drawn to each other, Alexa is reluctant to get close to the known playboy—that is, until he decides to step things up a gear and work to break down Alexa's emotional walls by joining her running club to spend more time with her. Little does she realise that he has given up his playboy lifestyle recently since he has developed feelings for her. Their relationship begins.

To add to Alexa’s work drama, her ex-husband shows back up in her life, trying to force himself into her work and life as her new client. Things begin to get more complicated.

Mateo has an interesting past of his own that he is still dealing with. His ex-fiance, Janielia, comes back into his life, and then there is the obsessive, entitled Emery, who wants Mateo despite him being very clear from the start that he is not that into her. Each person has their own motives, and none of them are good for the future Mateo envisions with Alexa. Mateo's car is vandalised outside Alexa's house, and she receives a threatening letter at home, but what does all this mean? Is it work-related or personal? Will Alexa and Mateo weather the storm brewing to destroy their relationship?

I personally found the story very realistic and relatable. The power dynamic between Alexa and her boss Sydell, as well as the drama, lust, corporate sabotage, complicated ex-relationships, and backstabbing, make Masked Intent: A Modern-Day Morality Play a multi-layered novel. It is a lengthy novel, but the plot had me engaged at all times, so the length did not bother me at all. I’m excited for the next installment.

There is nothing that I disliked about this novel. I even loved how Alexa's children's names and her ex-husband's name all started with the letter T: Tristan, Trace, Treat, and Trent. I feel like this actually made it more of a fun read. Kudos to Kimberly Greer for her wit and writing style. The novel felt more balanced to me because it was told from alternating perspectives. This book is exceptionally edited, and I am more than happy to award it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.

I recommend this book to adult readers who enjoy a good, relatable romance story. It contains lots of strong language and some rather graphic sexual scenes peppered throughout.

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Masked Intent

[Tamara Bengesai]

The review was well done to get me captivated. I am a sucker for love stories. I love how Mateo gave up his playboy ways for Alexa. I'm rooting for their relationship. Definitely got to read this book to see how their relation ended up.