Series: Billionaire Bad Boys

Review: The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica Lemmon

Posted February 24, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica LemmonReviewer: Rowena
The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica Lemmon
Series: Billionaire Bad Boys #3
Also in this series: The Billionaire Bachelor, The Billionaire Next Door
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: February 28th 2017
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A BILLIONAIRE BAD BOYS NOVEL

Beauty and the Beastly Billionaire . . . Eli Crane is one tough bastard. After an explosion left him injured and honorably discharged from the Marines, all he wants is to be left alone. Yet his brothers insist he take a greater role in the family business. They've hired him ten personal assistants-and Eli sent each one packing as fast as possible. But when beautiful number eleven walks through the door, Eli will do anything to make her stay. Isabella Sawyer's employment agency can't afford to lose Eli Crane's business. Her plan: to personally take on the role of his PA, and secure her reputation with the wealthy elite in Chicago. But this beauty and her hot billionaire bad boy soon find themselves mixing business with pleasure in the most delicious ways. And passionate, stubborn Isabella won't rest until she tames this wicked beast . . .

The Bastard Billionaire follows the last of the Crane brothers on that journey to his happy ending. Eli Crane served in the Marine corps until an explosion sidelined him and killed his friends. He’s living with a shit load of survivor’s guilt and the guilt is turning him into a surly, growly man who doesn’t want to have anything to do with the family business or any of the administrative assistants that his brothers keep sending his way.

The thing about family is…they’re not going anywhere and neither is the company supplying all of the administrative assistants that Eli keeps scaring away. You see, Isabella Sawyer has a business that she’s trying to get on the map and she’s not going to let Eli Crane scare away her biggest client, his family’s hotel empire. So if she’s got to do the job herself, that’s what she’ll do and Eli Crane will not scare her away. She’s just as stubborn and determined as he is and he’s going to find that out for himself, first hand.

The chemistry between Eli and Isa was pretty intense right from the very beginning. Eli’s confusion at not being able to scare Isa away along with the niggling doubts in the back of his mind about not even wanting to send her away was fun to watch. He fought that attraction at every turn but fate has a way of shoving you on your ass to make you sit up and take notice. So yeah, I enjoyed this story a lot.

Isa was a strong heroine who worked hard and loved harder. She wasn’t prepared for Eli Crane. She didn’t want to like him because he was such a big thorn in her business side but there was more to Eli than meets the eye and he was too hot for him to think so low of himself. She wasn’t looking for him but once she found him, she wasn’t sorry. She didn’t back away from her feelings, and I loved that so much. She owned her feelings right from the jump and even when she knew that Eli wasn’t where she was emotionally, she didn’t back away from how she felt for him. My heart hurt and then rejoiced for her because she was pretty awesome.

Together, they were fantastic. I adored seeing Eli’s walls crumble to the ground where Isa was concerned and I really enjoyed getting to know Isa throughout the entire book. This was a fun book with great guest appearances from Eli’s family. They were a fun bunch in the other books and it was great to see more of the same from them in this one. I definitely recommend.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Review: The Billionaire Next Door by Jessica Lemmon

Posted October 24, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: The Billionaire Next Door by Jessica LemmonReviewer: Rowena
The Billionaire Next Door by Jessica Lemmon
Series: Billionaire Bad Boys #2
Also in this series: The Billionaire Bachelor, The Bastard Billionaire
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: October 25th 2016
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Can't Buy Me Love

It's Tag Crane's job to be the life of the party. Traveling from one exotic locale to another is just part of running the luxurious Crane Hotel empire. But even paradise isn't perfect. Devising a new business strategy is keeping Tag up at night-and so is the Great Dane barking at all hours in the apartment below his. To muzzle the problem, Tag charges downstairs . . . right into the most beautiful, blond distraction he's ever seen.

Dog-sitting by day, bartending by night. It's not exactly the life Rachel Foster dreamed of. But when Tag Crane rushes in, all mountain-man shoulders and obscenely sexy smile, needing her help for the Crane Hotels, it's a fantasy come true. What's the harm in a fun no-strings fling? Only a fool would give her heart to a billionaire player like Tag-until suddenly the one man who can't be caught is the one flirting with forever . . .

The Billionaire Next Door is the second book in the Billionaire Bad Boys series and it was another enjoyable romance that I loved to pieces. Before I get into my review of this book, can we take a moment to admire the beauty of that man on the cover? My first thought upon seeing that I was approved to review this book was:

Yeah, I was that excited for this story. I was also really excited to get more Taggart Crane. His character really shined in Reese’s book and his role was very minor. I’m happy to report that he was just as awesome as I expected him to be in this book. This series is really shipping up to be one of my favorites of the year. The stories themselves are great and I’m really loving the characters as well. I’m mighty anxious for The Bastard Billionaire next.

Tag is in charge of the Guest and Restaurant Services part of the Crane hotels. He’s the laid back Crane brother that is always up for a good time. He keeps to himself but enjoys women. He enjoys entertaining women for a few months before helping them on their way to their next relationships. He’s never wanted more than that from anyone before so he’s taken aback from his instant attraction to Rachel Foster, the woman house and dog sitting for his downstairs neighbor who is out of town on business for the next month.

Rachel just quit her job because her boyfriend stole her ideas and got the promotion she was angling for. So she’s on her way to a new life. She wasted years of her life with someone who didn’t appreciate her and didn’t respect her so she’s making changes. She’s a bartender these days and she shares an apartment with her co-worker and friend, Bree, who is in a relationship that is getting pretty serious so Rachel knows that her time of sharing rent with her friend is running out so when she’s offered a gig house and dog sitting for one of her regulars at the bar, she jumps in because 1) extra money means she’ll get closer to getting her own spot soon and 2) she’ll be house sitting a condo in the freaking Crane Towers. That gorgeous is going to be her home for a month. Yes, please.

Rachel and Tag are brought together by a barking dog that keeps Tag from working in his home office. When Tag finds out that the woman he can’t get out of his mind is the same woman that is dog sitting while his neighbor is out of town, Tag is excited. Rachel is attracted to Tag but has some hang ups about relationships at the moment so it takes her a bit to warm up to him.

I really enjoyed watching these two circle each other before Tag was able to swoop in and snag Rachel up. I loved how patient Tag was with Rachel and how much Rachel liked Tag. I thought the way that their relationship was handled was well written and fun. I liked the progression of their romance and was really into everything that was going on from the very beginning. This was a fun romance with two very likable characters that you’ll be rooting on from the jump. I didn’t even care that the title was wrong since Tag lived upstairs from Rachel, not next door. It was good!

Lemmon is impressing me with this series and I’m really looking forward to more in the next one. I can’t wait! This was a good, solid romance and I definitely recommend it.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Review: The Billionaire Bachelor by Jessica Lemmon

Posted June 27, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: The Billionaire Bachelor by Jessica LemmonReviewer: Rowena
The Billionaire Bachelor by Jessica Lemmon
Series: Billionaire Bad Boys #1
Also in this series: The Billionaire Next Door, The Bastard Billionaire
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: June 28, 2016
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Indecent Proposal

Manwhore. That's what the board of directors-and the tabloids-thinks of billionaire bachelor Reese Crane. Ordinarily he couldn't care less, but his playboy past is preventing the board from naming him CEO of Crane Hotels. Nothing-and no one-will keep him from his life's legacy. They want a settled man to lead the company? Then that's exactly what he'll give them.

Merina Van Heusen will do anything to get her parents' funky boutique hotel back-even marry cold-as-ice-but-sexy-as-hell Reese Crane. It's a simple business contract-six months of marriage, absolute secrecy, and the Van Heusen is all hers again. But when sparks fly between them, their passion quickly moves from the boardroom to the bedroom. And soon Merina is living her worst nightmare: falling in love with her husband . . .

This is the first book by Jessica Lemmon that I’ve read and it definitely won’t be the last. I really enjoyed the romance between Reese and Merina. I loved how their story started, how their romance blossomed and I was super happy with the way that it ended. It wasn’t the perfect romance and I really liked that it wasn’t. The main couple had lots to work through and I liked the way that Lemmon brought these two people together.

Merina walks into the hotel that has been in her family for as long as she can remember one morning to find out that her parents sold her legacy and they sold it to the freaking Cranes, those money hungry soul suckers who won’t take care of her hotel the same way that she would. She’s so steaming mad that she rushes into Resse Crane’s office and gives him a piece of her mind.

Reese’s father is retiring soon and he needs to come up with a way to make the board of directors for his family’s company see that he’s more than the playboy the media paints him to be. They need to see that he’s serious about his legacy and he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that the running of the company stays in the family. When Merina Van Heusen storms into his office, wanting to tell him where he can shove his money and lets him know that she won’t rest until she finds a way to get her family hotel back, the wheels start turning in Reese’s head and before he knows what’s what, he’s proposing to Merina and offering her hotel as incentive to play his wife for six months until the Board votes him into the CEO position.

Their marriage was supposed to be in name only but when two people have explosive chemistry and an attraction that threatens to drown them both, things are going to go down.

Reese and Merina get down and they keep getting down. Spending so much time together, playing the perfect couple starts feeling more and more real and they longer they play the role, the more invested they become in each other.

I loved the romance between Reese and Merina. I thought they were great together and I really enjoyed seeing them get to know each other and fall slowly in love. Reese frustrated me with how long he held out where Merina was concerned but I loved that Merina was no one’s bitch. I loved how she didn’t let hurt feelings and misunderstandings get in the way of what she wanted and what Reese needed. She was a great heroine and I’m so glad that Reese ended up being the man she deserved.

This was a great book that I enjoyed from the beginning to end. There were times when I wanted to kick Reese in the balls but in the end, I was so happy for the both of them that I forgave him. I’m so looking forward to the next book and I’m hoping that we’ll meet the elusive Eli Crane in that book. I want to know all of Reese’s brothers.

I’ve read good things about Jessica Lemmon’s writing and I’m glad that the high praise lived up to my expectations. I will definitely be reading more from this author because I was invested in these characters. She wrote a fantastic contemporary romance with two passionate characters that come together in love and I really dug it. I’m so looking forward to Tag.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

four-stars


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