Reviewer: Holly Beauty and the Billionaire by Jessica Clare
Series: Billionaire Boys Club #2
Also in this series: Once Upon a Billionaire, The Wrong Billionaire's Bed, Romancing the Billionaire, One Night With A Billionaire, His Royal Princess, Beauty and the Billionaire: The Wedding
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: July 16th 2013
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 304
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
The Billionaire Boys Club is a secret society of six men who are incredibly wealthy—but not always so successful when it comes to love…
Real-estate tycoon Hunter Buchanan has a dark past that’s left him scarred and living as a recluse on his family’s palatial estate. Hunter is ready to give up on love—until he spots an enigmatic red-haired beauty and comes up with an elaborate scheme to meet her.
Gretchen Petty is in need of a paycheck—and a change. So when a job opportunity in an upstate New York mansion pops up, she accepts. And while she can overlook the oddities of her new job, she can’t ignore her new boss’s delectable body—or his barely leashed temper.
Hunter’s afraid his plan might be unraveling before it’s truly begun, but Gretchen is about to show him that life can be full of surprises…
Jessica Clare is a pen name for Jill Myles. I’ve read Myles before and really enjoyed her.
Beauty and the Billionaire is a modern take on Beauty and the Beast. I’m not always a huge fan of fairytale rewrites, but this one worker. Mainly because the similarities are there only in the basics of the story.
After seeing her briefly, reclusive billionaire Hunter Buchanan engineers it so sexy ghostwriter, Gretchen Petty, is forced to live with him, by offering her a very lucrative contract to write a story based on some old letters supposedly found in his house. Gretchen is struggling financially and can’t really afford to turn the offer down, even if it seems a little hinky. Hunter just wants to be friends with Gretchen. He hopes to get to know her before she sees the scars that cover much of his body. He knows she’ll never be romantically interested in him and he’s fine with that. He really just needs a friend.
But Gretchen surprises him at every turn. She’s feisty, funny and very open. She doesn’t try to hide her sexuality or pander to him because he’s rich. She also isn’t disgusted by his scars, even though he keeps expecting her to be. Still, opening himself up to her is harder than he expected it to be. He’s guarded himself his entire life. Can he really open himself up?
Based on the blurb I thought this was going to be a dark read. I expected something kind of naughty and full of angst. While it was definitely naughty, it was also light and fun. Gretchen was a great heroine. She was strong and independent, but also had vulnerabilities and a sense of humor that made her likable.
The best part is the virgin hero. This is something that has to be done well to make it believable. Clare did it very well. It made perfect sense that Hunter would be a virgin considering the circumstances. His lack of experience was written very well. It was great seeing the heroine take charge for once. In a complete role reversal, she had to teach him, not the other way around. I loved how vulnerable he was to her, especially since she deserved it.
It had some flaws, but overall I found the story to be engaging and fresh. I highly recommend it.
4.25 out of 5
This book is available from Berkley’s Intermix. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Leave a Reply