There’s a billionaire on her doorstep…ready to secure his legacy!As commanding tycoon Matt’s secretary, it’s Violet’s job to be prepared for anything. Though absolutely nothing could have prepared her for today. Handing in her notice was not part of dedicated Violet’s plan…and definitely not because she’s carrying her boss’s baby!Still, nothing is quite as unexpected as Matt’s reaction. He wants his child—and Violet! It’s a negotiation he’s determined to win…but he’ll need to offer more than just passion for Violet to sign on the dotted line of a marriage contract!
Here's the problem: our heroine, Violet, resigns at the start of the book, but not because she's pregnant with the boss's baby. Nope. She's in lurve with him (because, of course) and she can't keep working with him. Plus her Dad needs her and he lives in Australia and blah, blah, blah.
Matt immediately shows up on her doorstep all butt-hurt, acting like a big ol' man baby. Then he's even more butt-hurt and man-babyish because he finds out her father is a famous rock star and how dare she never share any details of her personal life with HER BOSS! HOW DARE SHE KEEP HER PERSONAL LIFE STRICTLY PRIVATE!
Then it's back to the office where he treats her like something he stepped in, she ends up leaving early and moves to Australia. Matt, of course, can't stop thinking about her but doesn't admit that to himself so goes to Australia under the pretense of business and sees the heroine performing on stage with her dad wearing a sexy outfit (so unlike her prim office wear! 🙄) - he ends up hanging around in Australia longer than expected, they have sex - she's a virgin with a magic who-ha because of course she is - and that's when we get our unexpected pregnancy. Right around the 50% mark.
Besides the hero being a whiny man-baby, the story isn't helped by it's boring first half and the fact that all the relationship building happens off page. There could have been some dynamite stuff included in the Australia portions of this story - we're told Matt and Violet spend time together prior to bumping uglies, but it's a couple of sentences dashed off in a perfunctory manner. How these two fall in love outside of thinking the other is hot was lost on me.
Then there's the family stuff. Matt's all butt-hurt about Violet not sharing any of the personal details of her life with him when their relationship was strictly professional, and yet he never shares anything with her about his cold fish parents or his lonely childhood spent in boarding school. I did understand Violet going the completely opposite direction of her old man - he's the hard-partying rock star, she was a child acting as the responsible parent to her own parent - but she's on the road with him a lot, her childhood was amazingly unconventional - the virgin thing strained folks. Sorry, it did. Also, there's no meaningful scenes in the book featuring Violet's father and it really could have added some depth to both Violet's character, as well as Matt's once he's knocked up Violet.
And speaking of - Matt doesn't want kids, he doesn't believe in love, and yet he doesn't use a condom his first time with Violet. Of course she's using "something" but it inevitably fails because....Harlequin Presents. Oh, and did I mention that Violet starts working as a PA at 20, has two previous jobs prior to working for Matt and she's all of 26 at the start of this story? Only in Presents Land!
It's readable. It was a quick airplane read while traveling, but it's a mess. Not only is it a mess, it's a boring mess. Which honestly, boring is the kiss of death for a Presents.
Final Grade = D
7 comments:
OOF! Seriously OOF!
This is one of those months where "It's off the TBR cordillera" seems to be the best one can say, eh?
I'm feeling pretty happy about my selection now. 😂
I also went to Harlequin for tropetastic and read RISK OF A LIFETIME by Caroline Anderson. It was Harlequin Medical - single Mom, Hero with a Secret, Friends with Benefits that become more ;-) It was . . . fine. Both characters were pretty adult and mature in their behavior, including about the friends with benefits thing (which doesn't last very long before they catch feelings). The hero's secret doesn't last that long and it's understandable why he kept it. It does take kind of a darker turn in the last quarter that I don't really want to spoil but I felt it was handled fairly well. Overall, I'd put down as okay, but lacking that special oomph and sparkle that can make a Harlequin really shine.
Onward!
AL: I mean, yeah. It's been buried on my Kindle for three years and it's not there anymore - so winning?
Willaful: Well you should feel happy about your selection because I thought that book was utterly charming when I read it a billion years ago...
Jill: On the bright side "okay, but lacking that special oomph" is not a complete and total loss.
Oh wow... That's one that would have been better in the DNF pile than TBR pile! I don't know that I could have finished it, especially with such a discrepancy. Oh well... one less book on the pile!
I recently tried a Sandra Marton book that was originally part of a small town multi-author series -- you know the kind, where the other couples are all over the place -- and the hero is a furniture maker. They rebranded it as a Presents and renamed it "Reunited With the Billionaire." (No, the heroine wasn't a billionaire either! At least they *were* reunited....)
Jen: It's shocking how wrong the back cover blurb is. Seriously Harlequin, you had ONE job.
Willaful: Oof! And you know the only reason they did that was they wanted to capitalize on Marton's name recognition in the Presents line. Something they didn't need to do since the author's fans would have found her anyway and all it did was utterly confuse Presents fans expecting a billionaire...
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