Start Us Up

Lexi Blake

Park Avenue Promise Book 1 

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published: August 8, 2023 by Blue Box Press

Three young women make a pact in high school—
to always be friends and to one day make it big in Manhattan.

She’s a high-tech boss who lost it all…

Ivy Jensen was the darling of the tech world, right up until her company fell apart completely after she trusted the wrong person. Her reputation in tatters, she finds herself back in the tiny apartment she grew up in, living with her mom. When a group of angel investors offer her a meeting, she knows she has to come up with the new big idea or her career is over.

He’s an up and coming coder…

Heath Marino has always been fascinated with writing code. He’s worked on a dozen games and apps and is considered one of the industry’s more eccentric talents. But now he’s back in New York to spend time with his grandmother. She was known as one of the city’s greatest matchmakers, and he wants to know why. Surely there’s some kind of code in his grandmother’s methods, and he’s going to find them.

When Ivy meets Heath it’s instant attraction, but she’s got a career to get back to and he just might be her on-ramp. It could be a perfect partnership or absolute heartbreak.

4.5 Stars

This is one of those books that I picked up because I love who wrote it. I’m not big on the New York Life nor do I know anything about the tech world. But I know that Lexi Blake knows how to write a story that I don’t want to put down.  With that being said Start Us Up was truly a one stop couldn’t put it down, all in one read for me.

Ivy Jensen climbed to the top of the tech world very quickly. She was motivated and wanted more than what she grew up with. Just when she thought she had it made, her company fell apart after trusting the wrong people. She’s got a second chance and now she knows she needs a big idea to make a new step to save her career.

Heath Marino has always been fascinated with code. He’s used his talents to make games and applications that have caused him to be a big talent. He’s back in New York to spend time with his grandmother. A well-known matchmaker, and he’s trying to figure out the science of his grandmothers’ methods.

What was supposed to be a secret set up became a business partnership into something much greater. Ivy and Heath worked so well together. He is calm and mellow with a very nurturing nature. Where Ivy is the go get them, she’s going to find a way to make it happen type of person. The two of them together was just amazing. They have a traction in chemistry, but there’s always something that makes it hard to say yes to love. As they build this company, they realize there is more feelings than just business between the two of them. As the layers start to peel away, we learn just why these two are perfect for each other. But yet this would not be a LexiBlake book, if we did not have a little bit of suspense, and a good dash of humor thrown in.  

This was a fantastic start to the series, and I can’t wait to see what Miss Blake has in store for her Park Avenue Promise series.