Once Upon a Billionaire by Jessica Clare Also in this series: Stranded with a Billionaire, Beauty and the Billionaire, The Wrong Billionaire's Bed, Romancing the Billionaire
Series: Billionaire Boys Club #4
Published by Penguin on April 15th 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 305
Format: eBook
ISBN: 0698165462
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.Praise for the work of New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare:“Sexy and funny.”—USA Today“I was engrossed with each page turn…a fantastic installment, with engaging and sexy characters and a wonderful and memorable romance.”—Book Pushers“Definite forest-fire potential from the heat generated.”—RT Book Reviews“A really fun, entertaining, engaging book, and I can’t wait to read (and re-read) the other billionaires’ stories.”—Heroes and HeartbreakersJessica Clare also writes as Jill Myles and Jessica Sims. As Jessica Clare she writes sexy contemporary romance.
Summary
Griffin, is appalled when his reliable assistant cancels on him last minute. Griffin is duty bound to attend the wedding of his cousin and her fiancee. It’s the wedding of the year, and he despises these gatherings, and he will need help with the details. When his friend recommends an assistant that he uses, he knows he doesn’t have any choice, he is without options. Maylee, loves her job, and despite living in a run down apartment in New York, this is her chance to make a life for herself. When she gets an offer to do a job for a wedding in Europe, she jumps at the chance. But her new boss is a stubborn and egotistical jerk, but Maylee, is strong and resilient, and tries to make it work with Griffin. But soon these two complete opposite personalities crash and soon Griffin and Maylee will need to decide how to compromise with each other and find a balance midst the crazy events of the wedding and the desire that is building between them…
The Hero
Griffin, is the scholar and the one that has royal connections through his family. Griffin grew up with no love or affection, except for his cousin. His older brother was heir, and he wanted to get away from his mother, and go to college in America. Griffin made his own way, and built up the money for both himself and his family, and gets no thank you for making them financially stable once again. Griff is stiff and proper and prefers his schedule to be by the book and on time. Griffin is not your typical “Prince Charming”, he is really rough around the edges, quite simply he is an Ass to the extreme. At first I had a difficult time with his personality, he was very non negotiable, and eventually he softens and he becomes more personable, but honestly he could be a jerk. But by the end of the story I grew to enjoy him.
The Heroine
Maylee, is a “country bumpkin” and her character was portrayed to the extreme of this characteristic, and at times I thought it was too much. Because I know country folk, and I don’t know any of them that are like her character. But what I grew to adore about her character was how she charmed me from the very beginning. And the whole “drunk on the plane” scene was the best beginning scene to introduce these two together. Maylee is carefree, dedicated to her job, loves her family, and has a very outspoken nature. She is sweet and loving, and what was most endearing was how she charms Griffin despite his tough exterior.
Plot and Story Line
Once Upon A Billionaire is a bit unique from the other books, but has its own charm and style that captivates you. Now I had my own issues with this story, but quite frankly it was such an adorable modern fairy tale romance. I had a hard time not laughing through this story, it had its moments of witty come backs, endearing characters both main and side, and we see how being raised in a royal family may affect your personality and how you view others. This was a story that was very eye-opening, and we see a side to the “rich and titled” that you don’t normally see in books such as these. We see the negative side to living in a palace and all the proprieties that come with it. Along those lines we also see some positives as well, how inner strength can aide in this type of environment. At first, I had a challenge in liking the hero, he was quite mean and rude and needed a huge dose of fun. But we see that he gets that big dose and her name is Maylee. Now Maylee was so adorable, and I love how open and accepting she is. She also isn’t ashamed of her own personality or fashion style, she is true to who she really is. She has this affectionate nature that rubs off on Griff in ways you don’t see coming. What I also had fun was the secondary characters. We see how they play a integral part in the story, both the villains and the characters that win your heart, most especially the cousin that is getting married and her fiancée. There is a slow process of these two falling for each other, it isn’t quick or easy, and we have some hurdles they need to overcome, the biggest issue these two have is loving each other for who they really are, and that does come in slow increments. Also another aspect of the story I enjoyed was how Griffin won my heart in the end. He makes quite a few mistakes, but quite frankly, he owns up to them, he realizes when he hurts Maylee, and makes true efforts to become better and treat her with kindness more often. He may be a jerk but he doesn’t mean to be. He has this sincerity about him, and he is very clueless how to handle Maylee and struggles with her, but I felt like in the end, he is a hero that wins the reader over if you stick with him through the end.
The Cover
Now this is probably the best cover of them all, because it relates most with the actual story more than any of the other books that I have read so far. We are dealing with a royal wedding as the setting for the book, and the hero is royal, so there is a bit of a connection. Not a huge one, but much better than the others.
Overall View
Once Upon A Billionaire is a fun and sweet modern-day fairy tale romance, it has plenty of sensual play, characters to make you smile, and a story that will keep you wanting more. It has a unique style to it that will engage you from the beginning. CAPTIVATING!!
About Jessica Clare
This is a pen name for Jill Myles.
Jill Myles has been an incurable romantic since childhood. She reads all the 'naughty parts' of books first, looks for a dirty joke in just about everything, and thinks to this day that the Little House on the Prairie books should have been steamier.
After devouring hundreds of paperback romances, mythology books, and archaeological tomes, she decided to write a few books of her own - stories with a wild adventure, sharp banter, and lots of super-sexy situations. She prefers her heroes alpha and half-dressed, her heroines witty, and she loves nothing more than watching them overcome adversity to fall into bed together.
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