Tag Archives: Billionaire Fairytales

ARC Review: The Big, Bad Billionaire (Billionaire Fairytales #4) by Jackie Ashenden

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Title: The Big, Bad Billionaire
Author: Jackie Ashenden
Publisher/Year:  St Martins Press 11/21/17
Length:   200 Pages
Series:  Billionaire Fairytales #4

Overview

Overview

The Big, Bad Billionaire: A Billionaire Romance by Jackie Ashenden

An intensely sexy Billionaire Fairy Tales standalone novel by Jackie Ashenden that is billionaire romance meets Little Red Riding Hood with a happily ever after.

Wicked. Ruthless. Obsessed.

Sent away from his family as a boy because he couldn’t be controlled, Rafe DeSantis’s new guardian turned him into a monster. One who wants only two things out of life: To get revenge on the father who destroyed his life. And to possess the woman who was kept from him. Ella Hart has been his obsession for years, and now that he’s her guardian he’s finally in position to black mail her into his bed. And once he has her there? He’s going to eat her up.

Innocent. Alone. Hunted.

Ella has been living with her grandmother since the death of her parents when she was a child. She’s learned to pour her grief and pain into dance, and it’s become her escape. Her passion. Now she’s set her sights on a prestigious dance school in Paris. But there’s one problem. Ella was so young when her parents died, her money was left in the hands of the DeSantis family…and it’s now controlled by Rafe. A man she’s always found compelling and terrifying at the same time. Rafe offers her an ultimatum: Give herself to him, body and soul, and she’ll get the money she needs.

Ella isn’t in a position to refuse, though she tries to resist the sexy billionaire. It feels good, until her heart becomes involved. Does the big bad billionaire want to capture her heart? Or does he only want to own her body?

My Thoughts

First i have to thank the folks at Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC – i’m a huge fan of Jackie Ashenden and they’ve gifted me with the pre-read.

We’ve gotten stories from all the other brothers so it’s about time that we get to see what the story was for Rafe.  In the last book we watched him take down his father’s role as CEO and now it’s come to fruition.  He seems to have everything that he could ever want – with the exception of one thing.  one person.  Ella.

Ella – our leading lady is a bit of a girl – twenty years old and really just trying to live her life as best as she can.  Dancing is the only thing that she has to look towards – her mother was a ballerina and she’s only ever wanted to follow in her footsteps.  Which would take her to a summer intensive program in paris.  That of course is where Ella sees her path crossing with Rafe.

As Ella’s newly appointed guardian, Rafe has control over the money that Ella needs to go to Paris and of course he’s able to manipulate the situation so that it works to his benefit.  He makes it so that Ella is at his control, and in order to get what she wants, she has to give him a bit of what he wants.  her.  So this is a story of seeing that power struggle unfold while also watching what was once a sweet relationship when she was a baby turn into something that’s heated and intense.

There’s also the underlying story of how damaged both of them are.  Rafe has an uncontrollable temper and that was something that was a fear for her family when she was a baby and something that he struggles to control and contain now.  Ella on the other hand has her own anxiety issues stemming from the loss of her parents.  She’s afraid to experience life at all in the fear of losing everyone and everything that’s important to her .

It’s a tough journey that they go on, and one that’s written in the exacting style of Ms Ashenden as we’ve become accustomed to over the last few books in this series.  there’s heat and passion that jumps off the pages, interspersed with intense anger and fear.  all the right components to making a story a good one.  So…on that note, i think that we’ve wrapped things up with all the brothers and i hope that you’ve enjoyed the series and get a chance to get this next installment when it’s out in November.

ARC Review: The Billionaire Beast (Billionaire Fairytales #2) by Jackie Ashenden

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Title: The Billionaire Beaste
Author: Jackie Ashenden
Publisher/Year: St Martin’s Press 3/7/17
Length:   198 Pages
Series:  Billionaire Fairytales #2

Overview

Nero de Santis: Damaged. Bastard. Beast.

Nero hasn’t left his house in ten years. He demands the world come to him, and the world is only too happy to bend to the strong-willed billionaire.

Ruthless, cold, and selfish, Nero wants for nothing and takes care of no one but himself. His last handful of assistants have left his house in tears, but the prim redhead applying for the job looks up to the task. Nero has spent his life shut within the walls he built, with no care to have more than a window to the outside world. But the fiery passion he senses beneath his reserved assistant’s exterior makes him want to break down the barriers he lives behind, and unleash the beast within.

Phoebe Taylor: Uptight. Misunderstood. Engaged.

Phoebe needs the obscene amount of money that comes with being Nero’s personal assistant for one thing, and one thing only—to pay for the mounting hospital costs that her fiancee’s two-year coma continues to incur. She’s heard rumors that the de Santis beast is a force that cannot be tamed—but even she isn’t prepared to handle the smoldering intensity simmering beneath his hard shell of feral dominance.

Nero is hiding something, something he is fighting with every step he takes. Yet he can’t help but stake his claim on this woman who has shaken up his life, and Phoebe can’t believe this animal of a man is the one person to ever look into her eyes and see her soul. Nero wants to keep her. He wants to devour her. And Phoebe just might let him.

My Thoughts

First off i should thank the folks at Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this advance copy since i’m really a fan both of this author and a lot of what comes from the publisher.  Anyhow, you’ll remember that we began our journey with this family – the de Santis when we met Laurent in the first book – when he saved a girl Cinderella style from being homeless and bringing her into a life of stability, wealth and love.  This 2nd book gives us more of the Beauty and the Beast aspect as the title suggests.

So we have Nero, the son that no one knew about for a while – or did they?  He had a very interesting life up until he was about 15, and that’s shaped the man that we know now.  He lived in a 5×6 room for 10 years, his mother hid him from his violent stepfather (or did she), and because of that, he’s got this insane fear of being outside and in the public.  He’s therefore closed himself off in 2-3 rooms in his HUGE house in new york city, and it’s turned him into a demanding person/employer and that’s where Phoebe comes in.

Phoebe is a Brit who’s moved to new york with her fiance, a man who we learn is in a coma as a result of a car accident 2 years prior.  Caring for him has become her life as she’s devoted all her time and money to ensuring that he’s got the best care in the hopes that perhaps he’ll wake up.  this is what leads her to Nero and that’s where our story goes.

Throughout this story we see two really broken people come together in a way that’s expected but sweet.  Aside from what Phoebe’s going through now, her past isn’t that great either as we learn about her sister and parents, so it’s not surprising that she and Nero find that they’ve got something complex together.

Nero’s demanding ways shows us that he’s going to have some type of controlling passion that will be unleashed, and Phoebe’s insane calm and innocence means that we’re going to see Nero’s alpha dominance bring out a side of her that’s so sexual that she never expected it.

What we get is Phoebe learning more and more about herself and how to pleasure not only Nero but herself too.  Nero as a result starts to come out of his shell a bit and not just open up to things that he’s terrified of, but to her too.  It’s sweet and hot all at the same time.

It’s when secrets of his past are finally uncovered and Phoebe’s forced to face a change in the situation with her fiance that we finally get resolution here and all in all it’s nicely sorted out.  It’s such a sweet and intense story all that the same time and i can’t wait to see what’s next in this series.  Have a great day all!

ARC Review: The Billionaire’s Virgin (Billionaire Fairytales #1) by Jackie Ashenden

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Title: The Billionaire’s Virgin
Author: Jackie Ashenden
Publisher/Year: St Martin’s Press 1/10/17
Length:   150 Pages
Series:  Billionaire Fairytales #1

Overview

Book #1 in the intensely sexy Billionaire Fairytales by Jackie Ashenden where sometimes dark and tortured, sometimes bad boy and charming, but always dominant and sexy billionaires steal their heroines’ breath away.

Xavier De Santis: Charming. Disgraced. Playboy.

The headlines are always shouting about the excesses of the so-called Prince Charming of the De Santis family. Problem is, Xavier is everything they say he is.

But now he’s gone too far, and he has has been ordered to clean up his image. Volunteering at a homeless shelter, Xavier sees a bright light amidst all the bleakness. An angel whose luminous face and tragic beauty call to him in ways he can’t explain.

Mia: Homeless. Vulnerable. Virgin.

When the shelter Mia calls home closes, she is left with nowhere to go. Nowhere except the luxurious, glorious palace of a home where Xavier De Santis has invited her to stay. This too-handsome billionaire is dark, dangerous…and also too good to be true.

Surely Mia can indulge in her fantasies and escape the hardness of her daily life for just one night?

As one night turns into two, Mia knows that eventually, the magic will end. She can’t keep the beautiful clothes. She can’t keep the soft bed. And most of all, she can’t keep the hard, handsome man who makes her crave his touch with every breath she takes.

Mia doesn’t belong in his world. But as Xavier tempts his rags-to-riches heroine with exquisite pleasure and heady desire, Mia may have no choice but to surrender to him completely.

My Thoughts

I should first start by thanking Netgalley for getting me an ARC of this book since i do love discovering new authors that i’m not familiar with.  In this first installment to the series, we first meet Xavier, the youngest son of a business magnate, who has to pay his dues a bit because of a scuffle with the papparazzi.  As a result, he’s working at a homeless shelter as a means to get people back in their good graces.

At said homeless shelter, he comes across Mia, who’s there each night (or most) to get a meal and then be back out on her way.  There’s a connection that he feels towards her, but he doesn’t know what it is – he feels protective towards her in a way that he’s never felt before, and he doesn’t know what the draw is past that, but he’s intrigued.  When she doesn’t show up each night, he begins to worry and when he feels like she’s not cared for enough, he tries to do small things like giving her a new hat.

Being homeless has hardened Mia.  Aside from the fact that her mother bailed on her when she was just a few years old and her grandmother beat her and made her feel like she was worthless, being homeless and on her own at least is something she’s done for herself.  All she wants is a home of her own and to feel safe but she doesn’t even have the basics in terms of her SSN or her birth certificate to make that happen and that’s the biggest struggle.

One night changes all of that for her though.  The shelter is closed, and she doesn’t know where to go since the other shelter alternative has proven to be unsafe for her.  That same night, Xavier sees her trying to sort things out and takes it upon himself to bring Mia home with him and into his world.

Where the story goes from there is a bit of a stretch, but i suppose a necessary one.  We quickly see a bond grow between them, what started off as no touching quickly changes to be touch as much as you can – giving Mia experiences that she’s never had at all.

We also see Xavier trying to battle himself on this.  He blames himself for his mom’s death and we see that her voice constantly pops up in his head as a voice of reason, yet it seems to the reader that the logic there is flawed.  And just when we think that things are going to be perfect for them, family gets in the way and crashes things down, and then we see that Xavier leaves – without full explanation, and Mia is on her own again.  Will Xavier come back to find her and will he be successful?  that’s where this story takes us and you’ll have to read to find out.  Enjoy!