All In by Simona Ahrnstedt

All In by Simona Ahrnstedt is not like other novels you’ve read.  It happens to be the first foreign language novel to be translated to English and published in America.  Originally written in Swedish All In brings the reader directly into the world of Sweden politics.

Advanced reader copies of romance novels (i.e. copies of the yet-to-be-published novel) do not come to our book store all that often (hint, hint to authors), so when a romance novel does cross the threshold my coworkers know to leave it for me.  I was very excited to read All In because I happen to love novels with a power struggle between the two main characters.  There’s something about having to sacrifice for love that makes the novel really resonate with me.

In All In, we are thrust into the world of politics, finance, and class conflict.  Natalia De La Grip is a member of one of the most powerful families in Sweden.  She currently occupies a high paying job within her family’s company and she’s very good at what she does.  When David Hammar asks her to dinner she has understandable hesitations.  David Hammar, a venture capitalist, has gone up against her family’s company twice, and lost… twice.  Now he’s planning a hostile takeover sure to destroy everything her family has worked for, and her family, all in the name of revenge.  Together the two embark on a torrid affair shrouded in secrets that can only end in heartbreak.

I’ll be honest.  Politics was never my strong suit.  Most romance novels set in the political arena sort of gloss over the specifics and keep things general to keep their readers interested.  Ahrnstedt, however, meticulously researched Sweden politics to write this novel and it is absolutely clear upon reading it.  I will say that it was a little tough to get into the novel in the first few chapters because I was so unfamiliar with terms, roles, and people, not to mention the political atmosphere of Sweden is vastly different from that of America (on the surface at least).  However, by the end of the novel I had not only read a wonderfully romantic story, but I’d actually learned something about politics in the process.

Natalia and David have some indescribable chemistry.  I love the way Ahrnstedt showcases their passion for one another while also their difficult struggle to move past their differences.  For a while I became completely absorbed in the novel and forgot that Natalia and David were mere characters in a novel.  They seemed so real to me.  Their pain seemed so real to me.  Somehow she helped me relate to two people from upperclass Sweden and I am still dumbfounded about that.

The only complaint I have about this novel is the cover.  I would have loved to see the cover appropriately portray the powerful characters and the dangerous game they are playing.  The cover makes the book seem like a light romantic read when it reality it was an emotional, passionate power struggle that had me desperate to turn the next page.  All in all, that’s a minor complaint I suppose. 

All In comes out next month.  If you like romance novels thoroughly researched, well-written, and erotic, then you need to check out this book.