Monday, April 21, 2014

[Review]: "Once Upon a Billionaire"

Once Upon a Billionaire by Jessica Clare
Publisher: InterMix (April 15, 2014) 
Series: The Billionaire Boys Club, 4
Genre: Contemporary Romance



The Billionaire Boys Club is a secret society of six men who have vowed success—at any cost. Not all of them are old money, but all of them are incredibly wealthy. They’re just not always as successful when it comes to love…

 As a member of the royal family in a small European country, Griffin Verdi’s presence is requested at the wedding of the century. The scholarly billionaire feels out of his depth in social situations, so a good assistant is required—especially when dealing with royal etiquette.

 Unfortunately for Griffin, he’s stuck with Maylee Meriweather, a pretty, charming, and thoroughly unsuitable woman who doesn’t know a thing about high society—but she sure can kiss. Her lack of polish may sink Griffin, because after all, even his money can’t buy class. But through Maylee’s eyes, he’s starting to appreciate the simple things in life—if simple means the most complicated woman he’s ever met.

 Maylee is everything Griffin isn’t—and everything he wants—if he can let down his guard and step outside his sheltered world…

The Billionaire Boys Club is breaking all the rules. Don’t miss other novels in the series from InterMix.


Where to Buy*:
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My Review:





“I love your hands, Maylee,” he told her in that elegant, husky voice that was knotting up her insides. “I was thinking of ridiculous lines when I came back here, to try and figure out how to get you to put them on me. I thought about burning myself with a curling iron like Alex, except I don't have one. And then I thought about simply telling you that I had a burning ache in my pants, but then I thought that sounded like an infection.”



Once Upon a Billionaire is a fun and sexy Cinderella-ish story that I enjoyed reading. I laughed and snorted at some quotes, sighed at a few things Griff said towards the end. But I also had a few issues with the book, mainly because of Griff.


I have to be honest – Griffin came across as a total ASS to Maylee for 75% of the book. I can't say that I fell for him, at all. While I understood his upbringing contributed to his attitude, I felt it was not enough to excuse his actions. I wanted to slap him, many times, throughout the course of the book. He had his moments, sure, when he was sweet and sexy, but such moments did not happen often enough for me.



“It's funny,” he said in a soft voice. “When you're a member of the royal family, you don't expect to have to work for anyone's affection. It's a given that it will automatically be granted. I've never had to work at convincing anyone to like me before I . . . I'm not very good at it.” He sounded disgusted with himself. “And I wish I knew the right thing to say—or do—to convince you of my sincerity.”



Towards the end of the book, Griff groveled and tried to express his love to Maylee. I found these scenes very sweet and they were almost enough to make me forgive him. Almost.


The chemistry between them in bed was great, and their first scene, a glorified dry-humping session, was extremely hot.


The jump to love felt a bit rushed to me, though this could be mainly due to my feelings towards Griff. I wasn't sure that, considering his inability to handle interactions with people, that he would suddenly be able to dive into a lasting relationship.



“Oh, Griff, you really should relax your hand if you've hurt it—“

He flattened his hand and revealed pink, perfect skin.

On his palm, he'd written This hand is the property of Maylee.




Overall, this was a fun contemporary romance, and I will definitely be reading more of Clare's books, as her writing style is very easy to get lost in for a few hours. I'm especially eager to go back and read Hunter and Gretchen's book (Beauty and the Billionaire), as their interactions in this novel were great. Plus, who can resist a sexy virgin hero? :)



3 1/2 STARS! 

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I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

*Note: The quotes used belong to Jessica Clare; TBQ's Book Palace does not claim them.

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Have you read Jessica Clare before? Do you have a favorite book of hers? Remember, she also writes under Jill Myles and Jessica Sims! :)






Enjoy!


Until Next Time,


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  *TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

4 comments :

Anna@herding cats&burning soup said...

omg you totally made me snort with glorified dry humping. Bwaha. I've read her under her other name and loved it. Will have to try this one out!

The_Book_Queen said...

LOL. Well, it's true! :D Yeah, I've read the first book in her shifter series, too, and liked it, so she'll definitely be an author I read more of in the future.



Enjoy!

TBQ

Sharonda Lowman said...

Until your review, I totally kinda gave up on billizionares...but I think I'm going to have to add this to my wishlist. I'm totally loving your reveiw ;)

The_Book_Queen said...

They can get annoying after a while, it's true -- some authors can write them better than others, I find. :) Glad that my review convinced you to give this series a shot!


Enjoy,
TBQ