Romancing the Billionaire by Jessica Clare

About a month ago I made a vow to myself that from now until the New Year I would only read books which authors had provided to me for review. You see, my list of ARCs is getting rather large, so I wanted to dedicate the rest of the year to knocking off as many from that list as possible. Well, that little promise to myself lasted about…15 hours. Once I saw that the next book in the Billionaire Boys Club series had been released I knew I had to have it. Immediately. I can’t help it, I absolutely adore this series! Each book is sexy as hell, and this ended up being one of my favorites. Even though I broke my vow I managed to finish all 304 pages in one day, so it didn’t distract me for too long. Gosh, I may have an addiction to this series. Including the cover art.

Jonathan Lyons is basically the Indiana Jones of the modern world. Minus the religious elements and melting people of course. He’s an adventurer, and a rich one at that. He also has a pretty impressive six pack, which is kind of weird when you think about it. Does he stop work in the middle of an archaeological dig site to do 1000 sit-ups or something? Maybe bench-press a few mummies? I doubt there’s exactly a gym with free weights in the middle of the Amazon. Sorry, I digress (you should probably get used to that by the way). Anyway, when Jonathan learns that his mentor has passed away, and possibly left behind a journal which could lead to a priceless artifact, Jonathan is determined to find it. There’s just one little problem standing in his way: Violet. She’s the daughter of his mentor, as well as his former lover from years ago. In order to find the artifact it requires both of them to work together and follow a list of clues to the ultimate prize. After a couple of clues these two love birds rediscover their attraction for each other, and do quite a bit of bumping and grinding beneath the sheets. Tee hee 🙂

There were two main reasons why I enjoyed this book so much more than some of the others in the series:

1) It was just so darn exciting! Almost like a sexy scavenger hunt. I know I referenced Indiana Jones earlier, but it’s almost like National Treasure too! Our heroes need to follow a bunch of clues which reference a bunch of old dead people that I couldn’t possibly solve. The added benefits of this book are that we don’t have to watch a balding Nicolas Cage run around awkwardly, and there is more smut! There was a pretty decent amount of sexual tension build-up before we got to the really good stuff, but the wait really didn’t bother me because I was so wrapped up in trying to figure out where their next clue would lead them.

2) Jonathan is definitely more likable than the other boys in the Billionaire Club. He isn’t a complete jackass like some of the others, or a really annoying playboy. After things ended with Violet all those years ago he could never bring himself to get involved in a real relationship with another woman, so he would just hire hookers from an escort service to fulfill his physical needs. Well isn’t that…sweet? Ok, so he was pretty sketchy in that respect, but you could tell throughout the book that his feelings for Violet never completely went away. Their back story was so much more poignant and moving than the leads in the other books. One scene in particular was kind of heartbreaking when Jonathan discovered the real reason why things ended with Violet when they were younger. Something about reading how such a tough macho man like Jonathan could break down into a heap of tears just got to me. Man, I am such a pathetic sap!

Looking back in the series, my least favorite book was actually probably the first one, Stranded With a Billionaire. However, even though the books don’t really follow each other, and you could definitely get by without reading the others, it just seems like blasphemy to not go in order. Especially considering the first book goes into more detail about what the Billionaire Boys Club is, and who all is involved. There are some features which are present in each book, including a misunderstood rich alpha male, a balanced amount of humor and smut, and even a little mystery as to how the two leads can overcome their differences (and sometimes even hatred for each other) to end up together. If you are going away for a week or two on a beach vacation, then I would definitely recommend bringing this entire series along. So now that that’s out of the way, I pinky promise to only read ARCs from now until January 1st. But…the next book in the With Me in Seattle series just came out. Shit!

Series: Billionaire Boys Club, book 5. There is only one more book left in this series, and once I read it I don’t know what I’ll do with myself. Probably cry.

Should You Read It? If you have read any of the other books in this series, and had a good time, then I’d say hell yeah. If you didn’t enjoy a previous book in this series then I would say back away slowly.

Smut Level: You have to wait about 50% to get to it, but when you do it is steamy hot. At one point they rock the bed so much a painting almost falls off the wall. Nice!

Get it on Amazon: Click Here