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.

Love Me Forever by Johanna Lindsey

I figured it was only a matter of time before I came across a book that I’d re-read in the past and loved, only to do another re-read and realize that huge chunks of it were fairly ridiculous. And yet, I was still fairly glued to the book and couldn’t put it down.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A Scotsman trying to steal the wife of a duke and a plain young woman forced by her father to find a husband start out as enemies but eventually become more. Full a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
In the past, this was one of my favorite books, and there’s still some good things about it. Many of the character interactions are funny, and I like Kimberly, even though she’s almost stupidly innocent about things of an adult nature.

For the most part, it’s fun romantic fluff that scratches the itch for something you know is going to turn out okay in the end.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
First, there is so much going on in this book. It’s like someone tried to cram 6 different plots into one story. Besides the main plot of Lachlan and Kimberly trying to figure their stuff out, there’s also a side plot of someone framing Lachlan for stealing horses, there’s drama with Kimberly’s father, there’s drama when Lachlan takes her home, there’s lighter drama with Kimberly’s other father…the book never stops throwing new plot bunnies in the way, and at times it feels a little cluttered.

I’m not sure how I’ve never seen Lachlan as a complete douche before. He spends the first part of the book convinced he can seduce a married woman, he’s not nice to Kimberly at all when he first meets her, and then he sneaks into her room and gets all up in her business while she’s sleeping, not even taking into account the fact that she’s trying to find a husband and he just ruined her. Then he tells her that the looks she gave him throughout the evening indicated she wanted him and was experienced in sex. So yes, essentially we have a rape and victim blaming if you want to break it down like that, and I sort of couldn’t help myself from seeing it that way.

Oh, and then to top it all off, Kimberly hears him the next morning still trying to seduce the married woman! Seriously, dude.

The Romance Factor
So I’ve read a lot of these books, and as far as the rape thing went, I’ve read blatant rape scenes by this author, ones that weren’t cloaked in “being awoken by feelings of passion” or whatever. This might be why I still got into the romance of the book later. Somehow, Lachlan goes from douche to complete sap and Kimberly thinking he doesn’t love her brings the feels. So while I’m conflicted, I also still enjoyed the love story that eventually develops. I just wish Lachlan wasn’t such a horrible person at the beginning. 3/5

The Steam Factor
The sexy times are fairly tame, though you definitely know what’s going on. No purple prose here, as we stick to vague terms like “length,” “warmth,” and “shuddering” to talk about the key points of coupling. 3/5

Final Thoughts
This book definitely reads different now that I am older, and the parts that drove me nuts really drove me nuts. But when the book finds its groove with regards to the romance, I still enjoyed the sappy cheesy relationship between the leads.