Book Review: The Billionaire Takes a Bride by Jessica Clare

Even in the most lighthearted series, you can get a story that manages to maintain the fun while still introducing a pretty dark and/or serious theme. This is one of those. Trigger warning for themes of rape.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A marriage of convenience seems like the perfect solution for two people who need an “other” to help them out, but it gets more difficult when they start to have real feelings for each other. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

Crazy Families & Messed Up Pasts
It’s not often you find a modern day marriage of convenience story, but this one nails it and does it in a way that’s fairly realistic. Well, in the world of a billionaire anyway. Sebastian’s horrible mother is involved in a reality TV series about their family and being that the woman is completely insane, she wants Sebastian to get back with his ex as part of the season’s storyline. Chelsea is a bad ass roller derby girl, but when the skates come off, she has a hard time dealing with crowds, the dark, and men hitting on her due to PTSD from being raped a few years before.

Beneficial Nuptials
When they meet at Gretchen and Hunter’s engagement dinner, Chelsea finds Sebastian to be “safe,” and they decide to be party Safety Buddies. After all, if they pretend to be together, men won’t hit on her and people won’t bother Sebastian about this family’s TV show. But then Sebastian decides to take it a step further, because if he marries Chelsea, then his mother and his ex (in theory) can’t bother him about the show’s storyline of getting back together. And since Chelsea’s roommate moved out and it scares her to be alone in an empty apartment, she jumps on the opportunity.

Taking Care of Business
It’s all fun and games and convenience until someone starts getting lusty after the other one, though. And it doesn’t take long for Sebastian to realize that he’s probably not going to be able to avoid all those feelings he said he wanted to avoid in the first place. Yet he doesn’t push Chelsea into anything, especially when he finds out what happened to her. Instead, they become good friends and he just takes care of “things” on his own.

Split Persona
I loved the whole roller derby thing and the fact that Chelsea is of two personalities. In her roller gear, she’s fierce, tough, and confident. Outside of it, she feels broken and scared, which is understandable. Her sex feels are pretty much non-existent, but when she realizes that Sebastian is turned on by her, she starts to feel that she’s ruining his life by not being a wife who can give him what he wants. Because by that time, they’ve started to like each other and the whole convenience/temporary nature of the marriage seems to have been forgotten.

Roller Girl
Sebastian never pressures Chelsea into anything. Instead, he lets her take control. He also makes it a point to let her know that no matter how much she’d been drinking the night of her rape, it wasn’t her fault. Chelsea slowly comes out of her shell, but it’s not until Sebastian suggests she integrate her roller derby persona into the bedroom that she starts to find her sexuality again.

Working Through Issues
I think thus far, this one is my favorite in the series, not only because it has some of my fave tropes (friends to lovers, marriage of convenience) but because the characters felt real and I loved that Chelsea was able to regain her identity and empower herself, even after a traumatic event. Of course, the big conflict of the story reopens some of those wounds, but Sebastian is great as the supportive husband who just wants Chelsea to feel safe.

The Romance Factor
Besides the above mentioned tropes, I also get a little mushy over the whole damsel in distress thing, and when Sebastian comforts Chelsea after the lights go out in their hotel in New Orleans, I melted. He’s so sweet and caring and careful of her feelings that I couldn’t help but love him. 4/5

The Steam Factor
Because of the nature of Chelsea’s PTSD, there isn’t a super high volume of sex in this story, but what there is manages to sizzle while still maintaining the respect and caution towards Chelsea’s past and the things that made her scared of it in the first place. And honestly, not everything is resolved by the end, but you’re still left with the feeling that things are going to be okay, both in and out of the bedroom. 4/5

Final Thoughts
I mentioned in the last B&B review I did that the stories were going to parallel and sure enough, this one seems to be happening right alongside Edie and Magnus’ story. I believe it parallels Asher and Greer’s story as well, which comes out later this year (and has already been preordered by yours truly). I also enjoyed the random reference to one of the reality shows in Clare’s Games series. The whole story left me with warm fuzzies, and I can’t wait for book 4 to come out.

Book Review: The Taming of the Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Even though the title of this book should have given it away, it took me a couple chapters into this book to realize it was a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. Which then made me nostalgic for “10 Things I Hate About You.” I love retellings and this one was a lot of fun.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A game developer agrees to go out on a date with a bitchy cat behaviorist so his brother can date her sister, not expecting he’d turn into a cat person and have feelings for her along the way. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Cat Whisperer
Edie, the sassy but grumpy friend of Gretchen’s, meets Magnus, a driven game developer at Gretchen and Hunter’s engagement dinner for the those who’ll be in the wedding. When Edie hears him making disparaging “cat lady” comments, she goes on the defensive and they start things out on the wrong foot. Edie is a cat behaviorist who’s fairly resigned to her life as single cat lady, but still, the insult is there and her impression of Magnus isn’t good.

The Drama of Love at First Sight
Magnus is of the mind that Edie is grouchy and miserable, so he’s not happy when his brother coerces him into showing interest in Edie so he can date her sister. Magnus wouldn’t do it, but he sees his brother as the creative partner in their business, and since his brother can’t seem to create without his “muse,” Magnus agrees to help him.

More Quirks
Besides her love of cats, she has a bad knee as a result of an accident. She doesn’t want sympathy, but she’s a little bitter about the whole thing, especially since her boyfriend at the time of the accident dumped her.  Magnus is an alpha nerd who ends up falling for Edie and realizes that what they were doing in the first place was cruel. He also does something a little different from many of the guys in these books: he actually comes clean before she finds out from someone else. There’s still conflict and betrayal and a very pissed off Edie, but score one for honesty, even if the timing is bad.

Gamers Unite
The book was fun overall, but I loved the fact that Magnus took Edie to a gaming convention. It thrilled my little nerd heart to no end.

Nothin’ But a Gold Digger
I never really got why Bianca was spending time with Magnus’ brother. It was hinted strongly that she was a gold digger, and maybe wanted some time away from taking care of Edie, but I was never entirely sure of her motives. She was just a brat, and it cracked me up every time Gretchen put her in her place.  To be honest, neither of the siblings were really likable and were both highly annoying and self-centered.

The Pain of Siblings
Having said that, I liked the way that both Edie and Magnus were highlighted as having codependent relationships with their siblings to serve as another of their flaws and another shared trait that brought them together. It’s not something that’s often thought about really, but it’s definitely a family dynamic that could mess with a good relationship.

The Romance Factor
While their whole relationship as that sweet vibe, I absolutely loved what Magnus did to show Edie that he really loved her. No spoilers, but it was such a great thing to do and a great idea in general, that I want it to be a real thing (it involves cats, of course). 5/5

The Steam Factor
Lots of sexy talk, sexy times, and naughtiness, perfectly choreographed and written around Edie’s bad knee. I loved the realism and sex positivity. 5/5

Final Thoughts 
Another entertaining book in this series with more cameos from familiar faces. One thing I really liked is that the storyline in this one actually parallels at least one, maybe 2 other books, and so you get a hint of things to come in some of the scenes.

Book Review: The Billionaire and the Virgin by Jessica Clare

I recently celebrated my wedding anniversary in a way fitting for a couple of nerdy book lovers: spending the day chilling and reading. It was perfect for us, and rather than worry about reading from my list or trying to get blog posts and writing done, I just went with it, no guilt involved. In doing so, I managed to finish all three of the currently released Billionaires and Bridesmaids series, a spinoff of my fave Billionaire Boys Club series. If you had told me a few years back that billionaire romances would be one of my favorite subgenres, I’d have rolled my eyes. But this is one of my guilty pleasures that I have absolutely no guilt about.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A self-conscious woman doesn’t believe it when a good looking business man showers her with attention while she’s on vacation, not recognizing him as the brains behind a popular but misogynistic TV channel. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

Cashing in the V-Card
Marjorie is the epitome of naive. She’s a virgin (not a spoiler, it’s in the title of the book), she’s never had a boyfriend, and she tends to think and do like the older generation. She loves bingo, knitting, quilting circles, and generally spending time with the elderly, who she relates to better than she does her peers. She also has a huge hang up about her height and has been made fun of in the past for being an “Amazon.”

Misogyny at Its Finest
Rob Cannon is Marjorie’s complete opposite. He’s jaded by the television industry and the fact that women want him for his money and the fame they think he can bring them. He’s not a good guy. Rob makes his money off a TV show that has women show their breasts for money. And while he’s at the point where he actually wants respect in the industry, he’s having a hard time getting it, especially because his timing in talking with Logan Hawkings (Stranded With a Billionaire) sucks. Logan is on the island for his wedding and wants nothing to do with smut peddling Rob. So Rob decides to leave…until he falls hard for Marjorie.

Beautiful to Me
There were times that Marjorie’s naivete was a little annoying. How sheltered can one woman be? But other times, she was charming and sweet and overall, I really liked her. Rob is a major douchecanoe in general, but I loved that he had no problem with Marjorie’s height and did everything he could to make her feel beautiful. This is one of my favorite themes of all of Jessica Clare’s books: the heroine with a “flaw” and the hero who could care less about it and spends his time making her feel sexy and pretty.

Don’t Mess With Bingo Players
Their first couple dates are hilarious and disastrous. Marjorie doesn’t handle her alcohol well, but Rob isn’t one to be put off by a little end-of-the-evening vomit. Marjorie also has a habit of taking bad advice from well-meaning friends, so their second date involves some weirdness, tears, and a posse of elderly Bingo players who seem likely to take Rob out and beat him like a senior mob hit. Which would have been a pretty funny scene, actually.

I See Where This is Going…
It’s pretty clear from the beginning where the conflict is going to happen, but that doesn’t make the journey to get there any less fun. While Marjorie develops a little bit, mostly because she discovers “the sex,” Rob is the one who really changes, changing his whole outlook on things because of Marjorie and making a big, awesome gesture to show her how much he loves her.

Timey Whimey
I will say that the timeline threw me off a bit. I expected these books to happen after the final book in the Billionaire Boys Club series, and because I don’t retain details after a time, I couldn’t remember what time markers were in One Night with a Billionaire. Cade makes an appearance in this one, single because his date stood him up. My first thought was that something happened with Kylie, but then I remembered that this is romance, and things like that don’t happen. I realized that this one took place before that, when Cade was still hung up on Daphne.

The Romance Factor
Marjorie and Rob are sweet, and it’s fun to watch Rob go from being a general dick to being a kinder person because of Marjorie’s influence. He treats her well for the most part, and his own emotions and hurt during their conflict made me want to give him a hug. 4/5

The Steam Factor
I’m not sure if there’s much I can really say about how hot these books are. Anyone who’s read Clare knows that she writes them spicy and that dirty talk makes up about a good chunk of the naughtiness. Even though Marjorie is a virgin and Rob takes his time with her, it’s still all kinds of dirty fun. 5/5

Final Thoughts
Besides being a fun read, this was a chance to revisit characters from the first set of books, as it takes place at Logan and Bronte’s wedding. While the verdict is still out on if I’m going to like these ones as much as I liked the original books, there’s no doubt that I’m still going to like them, and I’m thrilled to be able to stay in this world for a bit longer.