# Chapter 1: The Venue, The Viper, and the Word “You”
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 1 of *Seduced By My Ex's Divorce Attorney audiobook free*. Pour yourself something strong, because this opening chapter is a cocktail of heartbreak, cynicism, sharp banter, and one dangerously tempting offer that lands like a lightning bolt in a private speakeasy.
Our story begins with a truth every event planner fears: the worst four words in the English language, right after “we need to talk,” are “We overbooked. You’re out.” And for our heroine, Ms. Crowley, those words arrive six weeks before she is supposed to host a gala launching her new charitable foundation. Invitations have already been printed. The date is set. The only problem? There is no venue.
She is at Torrio’s Table, a speakeasy she belongs to, surrounded by her employees and friends, Chelsea and Victoria. Lincoln, the handsome young waiter, keeps the Vespers coming. Chelsea is pregnant, recently back with her ex-husband Dean, and still very much in love. Victoria has found a new man and looks at love with sweet, hopeful eyes. Both women are willing to give romance another chance. Our heroine, however, watches them with the weary wisdom of a woman who has already been burned.
She once believed in love too. She grew up with Todd, her ex-husband, from Montessori school onward. He chased her on the playground, gave her a locket in first grade, asked her to the carnival in third grade. He was kind. Considerate. A good guy. But passion? Spontaneity? She had convinced herself those things were overrated. She even predicted his proposal down to the month. Then his cheating destroyed the illusion. Marriage, in her mind, became a long night of expensive champagne: you think you are drinking carefully, having a sweet time, and then you wake up wondering what happened and where the Advil is.
Now, with her gala in jeopardy, she tries to brainstorm a solution. Chelsea, however, has pregnancy hormones and a loose tongue. She loudly complains about the venue that double-booked them, ignoring Ms. Crowley’s desperate throat-slashing gesture to drop the subject. And that is when the true storm enters the room.
Roarke Baldwin.
He strolls into Torrio’s Table like he owns the place, nodding and waving to patrons as if he is running for Congress. He is the man Ms. Crowley calls her worst nightmare. He is also, unmistakably, the divorce attorney connected to her ex—the viper in a charcoal suit, with salt-and-pepper hair, an expensive watch, and a crimson pocket square that makes him look like the King of England. He passes their table, his gaze lingering on her, and then settles into the booth behind them. Close enough to hear everything. Close enough to strike.
Chelsea keeps rambling. Victoria tries to stop her. Ms. Crowley tries to shut the conversation down, but it is too late. Roarke has heard that she needs a venue. And men like Roarke Baldwin never overhear a weakness without calculating how to use it.
He slides into their booth. Chelsea actually moves closer to Victoria to make room for him, much to Ms. Crowley’s disbelief. Roarke folds himself in, glass in hand, eyes locked on her. He asks, with velvet arrogance, if she is in need of a venue. She tells him she is not interested. He asks what if he can get her one. She fires back that his price is surely more than they can afford. But Roarke only smiles. The art of negotiation, he says, is simple: he gives her something she wants, and she gives him something he wants.
She asks what he wants.
His answer is one word.
“You.”
The room tilts. Her stomach fills with butterflies—some dying, some soaring at the thought of him telling her exactly how and where he wants her. But Ms. Crowley is not a woman who shows weakness. Her father’s voice rings in her head: *Calm your temper. Do not show them what you’re feeling. Under any circumstances.* So she plasters on a half-cocked smile and keeps her voice cool.
He tells her to call him Roarke. She refuses. He asks why. She says because calling him Roarke would make it sound like she liked him, and she does not. He clutches his heart dramatically and turns to Chelsea and Victoria, asking if she is always this straightforward. Unfortunately for Ms. Crowley, her sharp-tongued, intelligent friends have turned into starry-eyed lovesick teenagers. They are no help at all. The chapter ends with Roarke’s challenge hanging in the air, the venue problem unsolved, and the sexual tension so thick it could be bottled and sold as a house special.
## Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating
I loved how this chapter sets the stage. It is classic enemies-to-lovers energy with a forced-proximity negotiation, a heroine who has sworn off love, and a hero who is far too confident for his own good. The writing is snappy, the cocktails are flowing, and the emotional wound from Todd’s betrayal gives Ms. Crowley real depth. Roarke is dangerous, but not in a cartoonish way—he is dangerous because he listens, waits, and knows exactly when to strike. The banter sparkles, especially the “call me Roarke” exchange. My only tiny complaint is that I wanted just a little more detail about what Roarke actually wants, but that is exactly what makes the cliffhanger work.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Ms. Crowley will try to refuse Roarke’s offer, but the gala disaster will force her back to the negotiating table. I predict Roarke will reveal more specific terms—something that puts them in close proximity, perhaps a dinner, a favor, or a public appearance that makes her play along. Chelsea and Victoria will absolutely tease her about the chemistry. And Todd, the cheating ex, may reappear or be mentioned in a way that raises the stakes. The real question is whether Ms. Crowley can keep her icy hatred intact when Roarke Baldwin already seems to know exactly how to make her burn.
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