Sweet, rich, French guy- What’s not to love?

The Marriage Bargain (Billionaire Games: Book 1) ♥♥♥♥

Julian is a French billionaire with a complex problem. He needs a wife in-name-only to convince his father why he cannot marry the woman who his father previously picked out for him. Camille is a not-so-successful actress who answers Julian’s ad for the role of her life. If she can convincingly play the part for 6 months, she may not win an Oscar, but she will be $5 million richer. Julian said she was perfect for the part, but Camille is not so sure she can pull it off.

She would have rejected the deal altogether, but circumstances beyond her control put her in a situation where she needs the money. Against her better judgment, she accepts the job because she knows that she does not have any options. Living it up in luxury for 6 months beats waiting tables to make ends meet. The hard part for Camille is reminding herself that none of the charade is real. I think most girls would swoon from a hot guy reading the phone book in French. So I know that Camille probably had stars in her eyes when Julian called her “cheri” and casually touched her affectionately as if it is second nature for him. I am sure the French accent was probably very sexy and charming too.

Meanwhile, Julian’s ex-girlfriend (the reason for the fake marriage in the first place) is in her ear shamelessly telling her that while Camille maybe the wife, SHE will be the mistress taking care of him. Seriously? Since when does mistress status upstage the legal rights of the wife? The ex-girlfriend did not know that Camille held all the cards.

There was a great cast of supporting characters that helped the story along. Besides the meddling father and jealous ex-girlfriend, it was great that Camille found an ally in her mother-in-law. And while I was not sure I would like her best friend, she ended up being a great friend as well.

Overall, I liked the book and the way it ended. Camille had her insecurities and that is what made her adorable. Julian might have got married for the wrong reasons, but he was lucky enough to marry the right woman. The way the book ended was too sweet. I was gushing and saying “Awwwwwwww”!

I have a soft spot for this typical fairy tale romance. It is in no way believable but the story is sweet without being corny. I think we all would like to believe there are uber-rich down-to-earth handsome men out there that fall for lower middle-class women who do not allow wealth to corrupt their outlook on life and how they treat people.

Everyone needs to buy The Marriage Bargain (Billionaire Games: Book 1) ! I like this author 🙂

Received a copy of The Marriage Bargain from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Romance in Paris and NYC? Yes Please

Jul15

Brianna and Colin meet in Paris while both are there on business. The attraction is so strong; Brianna changes her plans to return home so she can have an extended weekend fling. Trying to ensure that her wild and crazy spontaneous behavior does not follow her home, Brianna’s only condition was that they would not reveal their last names. While the fling was supposed to be a fun diversion from reality, it becomes indelibly imprinted on both of them.

As serendipity would have it, they meet again when they get back home to New York. Colin is part owner to a major luxury hotel chain. And Brianna is daughter to a famous clothing designer. Why the two have never met before Paris or even knew what each other looked like is beyond me. It seems that they ran is the same circles. They were both strikingly good looking people and successful in their fields. The paparazzi seemed to have no trouble getting her picture, so why did she not have a familiar face to Colin? But I digress since I am over-thinking the plot line.

For me, this romance was about average. They went from being strangers to I-need-you-in-my-life in a few weeks. In my opinion, Brianna dropped the L-word too quickly. I guess all those private plane trips gave them ample time to talk and get to know one another.

In typical romance book fashion, there is a secret that almost threatens to tear the couple apart. When the truth comes out, I could not understand why Colin did not say something sooner. I do not think it would have been that big of a deal. Brianna had her secrets too, but at least she did open up to Colin.

My only real complaint was with the unsolved mystery. The couple’s issues are resolved but there are still lingering questions about the incident involving her sister. I guess that will be addressed in the following book? This is the first book I read from this author, so I did not know if that was supposed to be part of this particular story or part of the series’ story.

Overall, the story was entertaining. This is a nice light romance read for one afternoon or while on vacation. The love scenes are not too scandalous but still quite steamy. I would read another book by this author. I like Brianna’s family and would read their romance stories too.

I received a copy of Designed by Desire (The Hamiltons: Fashioned with Love) from Netgalley for an honest review.
You can click any of the links in this post to buy Designed by Desire (The Hamiltons: Fashioned with Love) on Amazon

Solid Soul

Jul15

Solid Soul (Kimani Romance) ♥♥♥♥

Chase is a widower whose entire focus has been about raising his son. Kylie was a teen mom and she is doing everything to prevent her daughter from making the same mistake. When Chase comes into her story and says that his son Marcus and her daughter Tiffany are planning to run off together, they know that they have to proceed with caution. Teenagers who think that they are in love can make some foolish decisions.

While agreeing to work together to support their children and hopefully convince them not to making rash life-changing decisions, Chase and Kylie get to spend some one-on-one time together. Meanwhile, Tiffany and Marcus say some pretty outrageous stuff that almost sends them both into apoplectic fits. Kylie wants to acknowledge the attraction with Chance, but fails to see how she can have a relationship with him and be a good example for her daughter.

This was one of the sweeter novels by Brenda Jackson because it was so real to life in many ways. The main characters have to think about how their actions will affect their children. Their romance is more complex since it is not just a matter of giving into the attraction. They have two hormonal teenagers that could use their lack of self-control as an excuse to throw caution to the wind. Chase and Kylie have to be concerned with the message they are teaching their children about personal relationships.

Overall, Solid Soul (Kimani Romance) had moments that were heart-rending and funny. There was a good cast of main and supporting characters with a likeable plot. I could imagine their difficulty; struggling to be a single parent and wanting to juggle an adult relationship.

You can buy Solid Soul (Kimani Romance) on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post.

An innocent trying to seduce a man is hilarious

Jul5

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In the prologue, Emma is almost the victim of a sexual assault. That changes her from a fun loving adventurous young girl to a jaded and somewhat bitter person. With some reluctance years later, her parents allow her to have a season in order to find a husband.

Sebastian, also known as “Angel Duke” since his reputation as a buffer proof, is looking for wife. He needs to choose but he is bored with his choices of immature debutantes. He meets and is drawn to Emma. She acknowledges the attraction but does not even feel she is a worthy contender for marriage considering her perceived sordid past. He is a duke that is above reproach and she is supposedly “tainted”.

Side note: it is sad to me that when a woman is a victim of a sexual assault, people still judge her as if she caused it to happen. No woman asks for it. As in Emma’s case, it is usually a mentally twisted man whose desires motivate him to take by force what is not belong to him.

Back to the story…

Emma and Sebastian have a similar goal: get married. They agreed to help each other find spouses. This was funny to me since it is obvious that they want each other. There was plenty of back and forth funny banter between the two of them. I was laughing out loud at Emma’s so-called efforts to try to seduce Sebastian. She was such an innocent that it was cute.

In the end, Sebastian and Emma confront their respective demons and are able to resolve the issues holding them back from acknowledging their love for each other. This was a great story!

To buy The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick) on Amazon click any of the links in this post

Books that make me say “Meh”

Jun25

There have been several books that I gave 2 hearts because of a variety of reasons. I did not want to spend a whole blog post on each review because I did not want to seem as if no book could satisfy my standards.
In this post, I will start with an extremely short synopsis of each book and then give the reasons why I did not give it a higher rating.

MINE FOR TONIGHT: Book One – The Billionaire’s Obsession)

Synopsis: Hero has been following heroine because he is obsessed with her. When she is without a place to stay, he convinces her to stay at his lavish apartment. Granted without his offer, she would have been on the suffering, on the street, with no place to go. But I still think that it is sad that she has absolutely no friends that she has to accept an offer from a veritable stranger. In any case, she accept and soon they give in to attraction. Cue the love scene.

My issues with this story: (1) The Hero seems to be a little creepy to me and his following his love interest is perilously similar to stalking (2) I did not like the way the book ended. If you write a novella, I do not like for the story to end abruptly as if the book is missing another chapter. The author should have made it clear in the synopsis that this is nothing more than just a prologue to the main story. I hope that the whole series is not like this book. It peeves me to no end when an author takes what could be a full length novel and divides the chapters into 3 or 4 novellas and calls it a series. It appears to me as a way to get more money and I do not like those type of marketing tactics. Plus, they did not have such a great attraction that I feel motivated to buy the second book.

Date with Destiny (A Billionaire Romance)

Synopsis: Heroine works for an escort service, but she is not any good at it so she is about to be fired. The Hero needs a date fast and she is the only escort available. During said date, it becomes apparent that she will be sleeping with him despite her protestations that she is not like that.**eyes rolling **

My issues with this story: (1) It was cheesy. It was a quick “Pretty Woman” if the man decided to date escort/prostitute after one date (2) What idiot man would introduce his daughter to his night escort? Really? I was really annoyed by that. Given that their relationship was supposed to be devoid of emotion, he should not have involved his child in the mix. (3) This girl worked for an escort service that was obviously providing more than just a female companion for events on date night. Where is the romance in Hero’s offer for her to be his girlfriend? Seems to me that he was trying to get his milk for free, as it were. With an ending like that, considering the fact that they really do not know each other besides the physical compatibility, she better save her money since it is highly likely that he will dump her in the future.

Granted I might be judging these stories too harshly in your opinion. I challenge you to read any of them and let me know what you think.
Agree or Disagree?