No one melts this ice princess but me.

Friday nights have a routine.

Drinks with my brothers. Maybe a casual hookup later.

Then the ice princess walks into the bar. And it's game over for me.

I can't figure her out. She runs hot and cold. She turns me inside-out.

I like to keep my one-night stands cut and dried--my ambitions outweigh my emotions every time. Until she disappears without a trace. And I discover her little secret- she's an actual princess.

I need more than one night from her. Much more.

A woman like that deserves the whole fairy tale. She deserves a charming prince.

Too bad I'm the one that's going to earn all her happy endings…

Title: The Billionaire's Princess
Author: Ava Ryan
Series: Fairy Tale Billionaire Series (Book 1)
Pages: 209
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Billionaire Romance, Fairy Tale Romance
Hot Buttons: n/a

Release Date: 27th August, 2020

A really great billionaire fairytale

4 stars

This is my first Ava Ryan and if this is any indication of her writing and stories, then it definitely won’t be my last. In fact, I already have my beady little eyes on the next two books in this series.

But onto this book first…

This story is the first in a new series of fairytale retellings (Fairytale Billionaires) - this one taking its cue from Cinderella. (At least, that's what I thought, anyway!)

Our hero and heroine - Damon and Carly - meet early on and don’t get off to the best start. Damon is instantly interested but Carly is having none of it and shuts him down. He’s not deterred and manages to turn things around culminating in a wild night. Before she disappears…

I immediately liked Damon. He was alpha, in-charge, bossy and knew exactly what he wanted. Carly gave him a run for his money, though, which definitely put him on the back foot. It’s always difficult to portray a strong man who has been laid low by a woman, without making him look weak. Damon never looked weak - just head-over-heels smitten. He was a delight.

Carly was just as good of a character. She was sassy, independent, strong…but… she’s supposed to be British. Well, just her speech, mannerisms - it was clear she wasn’t. Not overtly so, but probably quite obvious to those of us of the British persuasion.

And on that note - why do people find it so confusing that the royal family are of the United Kingdom (etc, etc) and not just England? Queen of England? So much nope!

That aside, the writing in this book was engaging and fast paced, probably helped by the fact it’s in first person, present tense and alternates between the viewpoints of both our main characters. You easily get sucked into the story and very quickly start rooting for our main characters. Even the secondary characters, namely Damon’s brothers, Ryker and Griffin, stood out for me. I’m hoping the next two books (The Billionaire’s Beauty and The Billionaire’s Cinderella) will be their stories as we do hear snippets about matches the pair made on the same night Damon met Carly.

This was a hugely enjoyable book with great characters, great banter and a satisfying love story - complete with happily ever after, obviously! I’m so pleased I’ve now been introduced to Ava Ryan and her stories - I can see her becoming a firm favourite of mine in the future. 4 stars from me for this one - and very much recommended.

 

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR!

 

Ava Ryan is an author of sexy contemporary romance. Her favorite things, in no special order, are animals, her family, cookies, people with great senses of humor and love stories. Currently in her writer’s cave (ostensibly working hard on her next book while also checking Netflix every few hours to make sure she hasn’t missed a new true crime documentary show), she loves hearing from readers via her website or social media. If you love billionaire alpha males, the feisty women who snag their hearts and books that end with a happily ever after, you’ve come to the right place. Please make sure to subscribe to Ava’s newsletter to stay in the loop about her latest releases and upcoming books!

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My instructions were simple: scour the city for a fake fiancée who’s not my type at all. Have her on my jet Monday morning, dressed appropriately for a yacht vacation.

I need a woman believable enough to convince a certain client that I’ve changed my playboy ways…yet nothing like the supermodels and socialites I usually have on my arm.

Somebody too annoying to tempt me—no emotional entanglements, thank you very much. This is business only.

If she’s unfazed by my looks and wealth, all the better.

Should be easy. Right?

Apparently not, because my people go and hire Tabitha. My hairdresser.

What were they thinking? Yes, I said annoying, but I didn’t mean her, the most frustrating woman in the world.

Tabitha is sunshiny. She has a pet hamster. She loves Hello Kitty, and she gets under my skin like nobody else.

As if that’s not bad enough, the minute we step on deck, she thinks that certain people on the yacht are up to something shady—based completely on her soap opera knowledge. 

She won’t listen when I tell her she’s being ridiculous.  

But as the days go by, I find that we’re actually having fun. And our fake kisses are heating up. And suddenly her wild theories aren’t sounding so strange after all…

Title: The Billionaire's Fake Fiancée
Author: Annika Martin
Series: Billionaires of Manhattan (Book 4)
Pages: 360
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Billionaire Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romcom
Hot Buttons: Tabitha has an upsetting childhood with a father who ignored her and a mother with a severe mental illness/drug addiction<-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)


Release Date: 28th April, 2020


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I’ve never read Annika Martin before but since finishing this book I’ve already gone on a backlist blitz, grabbing up everything she’s written before I became aware of her and her writing.

This book is written in first person, present tense with chapters written from the viewpoint of both Tabitha and Rex. This works really well as we find out more about the characters - especially Rex - and the way the chapters are divvied up, I was often chomping at the bit to find out what the other one thought of certain situations and scenarios. As such, I absolutely rattled through this book in no time at all.

I always think it takes a very skilled author to bring a quirky character to life in a story without making them a parody, or so wholly irritating that they make your teeth hurt. Tabitha was neither of these things. She liked sparkles, Hello Kitty, soap operas and froufrou pink drinks - and she owned that fact with no apologies. Next level basic. I love it! But if you think that’s all she is - you (and Rex) would be so wrong. She’s got hidden depth and she’s hella smart to boot. And not forgetting that she’s so funny. The way she deliberately rubbed Rex the wrong way whenever she could just killed me. It gave me a delicious little evil thrill to watch him squirm!

As much as I loved Tabitha, I loved Rex just as much. Again, it’s a real skill to make a grumpy, broody, asshole like Rex come across as a decent guy. Even better than that, was to know how Rex was feeling and to watch him come to the realisation that everything he thought he hated were actually all the things he loved most about Tabitha. It’s not about changing her; it’s not about loving her despite her quirks, it’s about realising she’s everything - just the way she is.  I’m not doing justice to how wonderful it was to watch his slow descent into love - without ever losing his own brand of grumpy grumpiness! And let me tell you that taunting and teasing a grumpy man to lose control and throw his girl up against the wall and take her - is everything you need to read to get your very own kicks.

As well as the love story, we have the added bonus of the strange goings on aboard the yacht. Is Marvin a fake long-lost nephew? Who is following Rex and Tabitha? Who is trying to sabotage whom? Back in the day, I used to watch Days of Our Lives and this reminded me of all the ridiculous situations that you can’t help but love. It’s super fun and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion and yet it never gets to that slapstick stage where it becomes ridiculous. Even non-soap opera fans will enjoy the fun!

Honestly this book was everything that I didn’t know I needed. It’s hugely entertaining, crazy funny and deserves way more than the 5 stars I can give it. I loved Tabitha and Rex - so much so that I’m still thinking of them and want to read about what they’re up after they get their happily ever after. Finding out that one, maybe two, maybe even three, of Tabitha’s friends have their own books (Most Eligible Billionaire, The Billionaire’s Wake-Up-Call Girl and Breaking the Billionaire's Rules) gives me happy chills - and I’m seriously hoping that Noelle and Malcolm Blackberg (who are only in this book for barely a hot second!) get their own book, too (Woop - they do - it’s called Return Billionaire to Sender!). Seriously, this book is everything and Ms Martin, you’ve got yourself a new fan!








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AUTHOR BIO!

Annika Martin loves fun, dirty stories, hot heroes, and wild, dramatic everything. She enjoys hanging out in Minneapolis coffee shops with her writer husband, and also likes birdwatching at her bird feeder alongside her two stunningly photogenic cats, especially when she should be writing. She’s heavy into running, music, saving the planet, taking long baths, and consuming chocolate suckers. 

She’s worked a surprisingly large number of waitressing jobs, and has also worked in a plastics factory and the advertising trenches; her garden is total bee-friendly madness and her most unfavorite word is nosh or possibly fob. A NYT bestselling author, she has also written as RITA award-winning author Carolyn Crane.

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She’s his runaway bride…

He’s come to claim his wedding night!

Emma Piper’s just promised to love, honour and cherish Greek tycoon Christo Karides…but then she overhears him admitting he married her purely for convenience. Bolting to her family’s beautiful Corfu villa, Emma doesn’t expect Christo to follow—especially, with seduction in mind! Their intense attraction promises an explosive reunion. Will a night in her husband’s bed show Emma there’s more to their marriage than just convenience…?

Title: Wedding Night Reunion in Greece
Author: Annie West
Series: Mills & Boon Modern
Pages: 192
Genre(s): Contemporary, Mills & Boon Modern, Europe
Hot Buttons: /

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Oh I do so love a Mills & Boon Modern tale just as the weather’s starting to get warmer. THey’re full of lovely, warm locations (you won’t be surprised to hear it’s Greece in this particular story), hunky billionaires and the women who capture said billionaire hearts.

There’s not much prevarication with this tale - we get stuck right into the storyline and Emma overhearing the conversation that breaks her heart and leads to her fleeing her wedding day. It really starts as it means to go on as you can’t help but keep the pages moving to get to the next bit of the story.

Christo is everything you want a hero to be - especially a Greek billionaire hero. He’s grumpy, self-assured, cocky, arrogant and so damn sure that his way is the best and only way. Oh, yes - he’s due for a good comeuppance and downfall due to love. I honestly didn’t much care for him for the first wee while in the book.

Emma was also a delight. She was sweet, innocent and gullible - which disappeared pretty darn fast once she heard Christo’s unfeeling conversation about her. I was cheering for her as she took control of her life and left her ‘husband’ in the lurch. And when he tracked her down and told her she should apologise to him - I cheered some more as she told him where he could go!

And then we got a nice bit of back and forth as they danced around their attraction and distrust of each other. It was fun and I do like a couple who hide their attraction behind bickering - especially since timid Emma gave as good as she got.

Where it kind of fell down for me was when the pair started to reconcile. Christo still seemed to manipulate Emma by criticising her ‘running away’ instead of confronting him after hearing the conversation. The argument and make-up that led to more - it just felt a little wrong to me.

After that, the book went a little flat for a few chapters, before picking up near the end. I was expecting a big misunderstanding so was pleased that the author went a different way to get to the big declaration scene - which was sweet and a perfect conclusion to Emma and Christo’s story.

My complaints about the story - other than the slightly flat section - included the ridiculous overuse of the word ‘till’. Seriously?! Sloppy, informal writing in a book makes my blood boil. Sad but true.

I wasn’t sold on the little girl in the story. I question her age vs the way she talked/behaved - and she really felt more like a plot device than a full-bodied character. She could have been removed from the story and not a jot of difference would have been made.

And while I liked the writing style - and it really kept my interest - I did feel that there was a bit of thesaurus work going on at times. Every now and then a word jarred and felt forced - in direct contrast to the rest of the book, or even the rest of the paragraph.

The setting of Greece made me long for warmer months and made me long for crystal blue seas, skies and golden, sandy beaches. And this was the ideal romance for a beach read - or for wishing you were reading on the beach. It was a cute, sweet and fast read and gets you right in the mood for summer. 3 stars.

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* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

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Samantha Matthews turned her back on her wealthy family to focus on social work. Those who know her think she’s the heart of kindness. Those who know her really well know she’s in a never-ending battle to make up for the harm her family’s companies inflict on the world. Which is how she finds herself at a charity bachelor auction of all places.

But oops, she was supposed to bid on her bff’s brother as a favor and accidentally bid on the wrong guy. Sue her for not being able to tell one stick-in-the-mud CEO from another.

Backstage, she goes to tell him not to worry about having to go through with a date or anything, but the oafish billionaire cuts her off dismissively. Looks her up and down, hands her a card with his assistant’s contact details, and reminds her that sex is definitely off the table.

Oh, she’ll call the assistant all right and have her make sure he wears jeans and comfortable shoes and to pick her up at seven a.m. The only “hammering” this guy is going to be doing is at Habitat for Humanity.

Too bad he turns out to be nothing like she expected.

Title: An Accidental Date with a Billionaire
Author: Diane Alberts
Series: /
Pages: 180
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Billionaire
Hot Buttons: /

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The premise of this book sounded like the perfect romance novel concept - girl bids on wrong billionaire at bachelor auction and confusion and irritation soon turns to love and romance. Every part of me swooned.

So we have our heroine - Sam - and she bids on our hero - Taylor - as promised and we’re off to a great start. And then he’s slightly rude to her. And I mean slightly. There’s no arrogant, alpha billionaire thing going on here. He’s just a bit rude. Not saying it’s right - but he didn’t run over her puppy or anything.

And so Sam spends the first 1/3 of the book being an absolute cow to him. She’s judging him for his minor rudeness, her preconceived feelings about him because he’s rich and little else. Oh, and because of his job of doing the same thing Richard Gere did in Pretty Woman. And because she - somehow (I didn’t really care to try and figure it out) is in the opposing side of his business. Yet Taylor is such a sweetheart to her. He’s quiet, kind and seemingly desperate for her to like him for some inexplicable reason.

So at this stage I’m not very fond of Sam and Taylor is hardly ringing my sexy, take-charge, arrogant, billionaire alpha bells. Hmmmm.

The pair go on their date that they manage to keep extending as she doesn’t do second dates and he doesn’t do relationships. Sigh. But the concept of ‘the date only ends when I take you home’ - so I’m not taking you home - was adorable. If someone said that to me I’d be putty in their hands.

The story meandered along nicely. The writing was good and I was engrossed in the book and never left it sitting for long. Yet, there were so many, I don’t want to say ‘clichés’ (probably because I love a good cliché), but plot points that were used with a distinct lack of subtly. We had the moment our couple were in a restaurant and the heroine decides to anonymously buy a hard-up family dessert just so our hero could marvel at her caring side. And then when he ordered a background report on the heroine and then decided not to read it. Can you guess at what happened next? More sighs. And when Taylor decides to reject the practices that made him a billionaire - and instead comes around to Sam’s way of thinking by going into business with the failing company. And of course this allowed Sam to see he really was a good guy. There were just too many of these instances for my liking - too many tried and tested things just stuck into the story that ended up sticking out like a sore thumb and making me grumpy!

Overall I feel like I’ve been a little too harsh on a story that was ultimately quite readable and very non-offensive. It’s unlikely to set your world - or anything else - on fire, but it’s a decent enough read to while away a few hours. Just 3 stars from me.

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* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

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