Introduction

From New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake, discover The Park Avenue Promise Series...

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.

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Excerpt

The horrifying news that my ex is attending CeCe’s party is still weighing heavily on my brain pan as I stride down the hall that I’ve been assured will lead me to Heath Marino’s apartment. The building is a bit worn down, but compared to the one I live in it’s a palace. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Start Us Up deals with what it means to be a woman in a business dominated by men. Ivy has many coping mechanisms to deal with this. Do you think they help or hurt her? How do those coping mechanisms affect her core relationships?

2. Grief and how we deal with losing someone plays a major part in the novel. All three of Ivy’s maternal figures are widows, and each deal with it in their own way. How do you think Diane, CeCe, and Lydia handle grief, and how has it affected their ties to family?

3. Mental health is a subject touched on in Start Us Up. Ivy doesn’t realize her mother has an issue with depression until CeCe talks to her about it. Their relationship has been strained for years. How did Diane’s depression play a part in Ivy’s arc? Do you think Ivy should have recognized her mother’s problems earlier? At one point in the story, the dynamic shifts between them and Ivy takes on the maternal role for her mom in some ways. Can you think of a time when that shift happened for you and your parents?

4. Artificial intelligence is a highly controversial topic these days. The AI Heath and Ivy are developing is a matchmaking app. How would you feel about using an app to find a partner? How do you think AI will change our world in the coming years?

5. Diane and CeCe have several confrontations over the course of the novel. How do you think they handle their respective relationships with Ivy? What forces make it nearly impossible for them to work together until the end of the book?

6. Ivy and Heath are immediately attracted to one another, but physical chemistry is only one part of their relationship. Why do you think they work? How is Heath uniquely capable of understanding Ivy? How does Ivy support Heath in the ways he needs? Do you think this partnership can work in both their personal lives and with their business?

7. At the heart of the Park Avenue Promise series is a longtime friendship between three women who met when they were children. Ivy, Harper, and Anika are a found family. Over the course of the book Ivy examines the relationship and whether friendship can survive the changes that come with growing up. How do you think moving and building a business affected Ivy’s relationship with her “sisters”? Have you had a long-term friendship that changed over the years? How did you try to make it work?

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