Hello everyone!
It's time to go back down under again!
Not exactly Australia of course, since I can't even remember the last time I read a book that happens in Australia (not counting last week's blog post topic).
No, I'm talking about the smaller of the countries down under.
It's time to return to New Zealand.
And of course, what better way to do it than with another Billionaire King?
I have to admit that this is the kind of series I truly enjoy on a whole lot of levels, because it has it all: family, friendships, romance, realism, and on top of everything else it's centered around an animal shelter, which means a lot of cute animals come through the story too!
The stories are slowly being wrapped up into a neat little present to put under our Christmas trees, so let's hop right to it, shall we?
My Wicked Billionaire awaits.
But I digress.
My Wicked Billionaire is Ryan and Clio's story.
It also includes a wedding while we're at it, because Leon and Nix are getting married at what might be New Zealand's only castle, and it just makes me want to visit the country - and said castle - even more!
Now if you remember, Ryan is the very first boy we meet when we pick up The Perfect Gift, which is the book that may or may not have started this all, and he's in his thirties when our story begins, finalizing his divorce to his lawyer-y ex-wife, and realizing that for some reason or another she just couldn't seem to love him.
Aka we learn that she wants to always be put together and presentable and didn't really enjoy sex all that much, at least not with Ryan.
And Ryan kind of likes sex.
Nothing wrong with either one of those, of course; the problem is that when two people like that are together, then there are going to be clashes since they seem to want different things.
Meanwhile, Clio is just on the verge of becoming a veterinarian, and as our story begins she's actually finishing up some assignment that's going to count as her last, and she gets warned by Stefan, the head vet, that she needs to hurry if she doesn't want to miss the plane to her brother's wedding.
It's fine, Clio says, I have time.
Unfortunately she's relying on a wristwatch that stopped, so naturally she's NOT fine, because she ends up missing the plane even though she hustles like you wouldn't believe.
And she gets told 'I told you so' a lot, because it seems that Clio is a little bit scatter-brained and can't seem to be as focused as one would expect an adult to be, so others don't take her as seriously as they maybe should, which can become a bit of an issue since, even if it's in good nature, those kind of remarks will eventually hurt a person.
Anyway, Ryan misses the flight too, because he's a witness to a car accident and helps out there, so the two of them decide to drive down to a different airport and catch a flight, sleep it off, and then drive the rest of the way.
Along this little road trip, the pair of them slowly bond. Sure, they're technically cousins, but the thing is, Ryan isn't related to Clio by blood, so the growing attraction between them isn't exactly going to get either one of them thrown in prison anyway - though they might land on the hot seat with their family for obvious reasons.
And Ryan does try to be good, and deny Clio what she wants, not that he's completely capable of telling her no when she's outright seducing him, so they sort of agree to let it go where it wants to go, and maybe just have a consensual one-night stand. They're both adults, right?
True, they are. They're also both adults who are INCREDIBLY attracted to the other, so why not keep going?
As in, they literally have to pull up by the side of the road because the chemistry is just so hot.
I'm serious.
This is one of the books where the sexual aspect was a lot more emphasized than in previous ones, or some previous ones at least, and it's kind of a refreshing change in a way. I don't necessarily NEED sexual relations in a book to enjoy it - Ms Woods has engaging stories even without that added in - but it's also kind of fun to read about something a little bit new and two people who both really enjoy something, and watching them enjoy it together.
Back to our regular review, Ryan gets a call from the Ministry about potentially going ahead with developing an application that would help with adoption processes, but it might require him to move away from where he's living now. Also Clio explains that, being the youngest King, her life has pretty much been planned for her without her actual consent. Nothing's wrong with that, of course, but she would have liked to have options instead of her family just expecting her to go along the beaten path, at least sometimes.
That's still all up in the air by the time they finally arrive to the castle with just hours before the ceremony, and it's here we learn that Stefan is actually a lot closer to the truth about how Clio thinks than one would expect, because he explains that, while she'll make a brilliant vet, he doesn't think her heart is with the Ark, and he can see that.
Smooth, Viking, smooth. We see how observant you are.
I mean, Stefan has his own issues too, keeping Ryan's sister Jules at arms' length even though he obviously likes her, which hurts her a whole lot more than she wants to admit, but that's beside the point.
At the moment we're still at the wedding, and it goes off without a hitch, even the reception where we get some delightful Older Kings cameos again, Noah tells the group that he's flying the lot of them up to Finland and Santa's Secret Village for his own wedding, and I squeal like a little girl.
My all time favourite Serenity Woods book just happens to be Santa's Secret, taking place up in the north, and we finally get a timeline for it, because Noah explains he went to school with Eva, who is the protagonist of the other book, so MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!
And Merry Christmas to Ryan and Clio who just can't keep their hands off each other, not even when the wedding's over and they all return to the real world, but it's such a seamless transition without either one of them overthinking it too much. Why don't they just try this and see where it goes?
Besides, Noah plays Cupid yet again.
You gotta love Noah, honestly. I really hope no one sees him as pushy or anything, but he basically makes everything happen in these books; see the truth about what Ryan may be doing with his future comes out during conversation, and of course Clio's desire to maybe work at a zoo pops up as well (yes, yes, Hal, we know how much you don't like them, but you're also adorable for pointing out that there's a spot opening which she might want; you really have a heart of gold, brother). The thing is, however, this would conflict with their duties at the Ark.
Unless Noah gets a say in it.
And he does.
He arranges so that it's all going to be a part time thing for the two, as long as it works for them - which at the moment it does - meaning that they'll be spending part of the week working at the Ark, and part of it working these other opportunities. And Noah did all that simply because he wants Ryan and Clio to have a fighting chance, something Ryan clues into when both of them get called up to Noah's house to discuss the situation.
I mean, it doesn't get better than that, surely?
So, yeah. They're definitely going to be trying it on for size. They probably won't want to commute all their lives, but for right now? It sounds perfect.
What's even more perfect is the fact they do want their relationship to succeed, not even Leon's really against it (which was the major worry throughout the book), and Ryan fully plans on marrying Clio when their "trial" period's up, because she's the first woman he can actually see himself walking down the aisle again with.
And while Clio isn't really at the wedding wagon yet, she's bound to change her mind after some time, honestly. I can't see her not saying yes to Ryan.
With that said, it's another happily ever after for the Kings!
This story was precious to me because I've always wondered what happened to Ryan after the original King trilogy ended, and now I got the answer to that. He's also grown up into a sweet, honest, lovable kind of guy, and I just want to give him a massive hug. Clio turns out to be just right for him, as adventurous and direct as she is and someone who wants to enjoy life to the fullest. What more could you want from a partner, honestly?
The only thing that I maybe didn't feel as much was how formal the language sounded on occasion. Actually, as I was reading it I sometimes thought I was reading a turn-of-the-century romance, which isn't BAD, honestly, it's just not something you expect from any kind of contemporary book, I suppose.
Other than that, however, we have another home run. And as Christmas rolls ever closer, it's time to look ahead to Jules and Stefan's story.
Man oh man, Stefan, your Viking ancestors are counting on you to get this right. Plus you'll pretty much be in your homeland! So come on, make it happen!
Tune in for that review in a couple of weeks. Until then, happy weekend!
xx
*image not mine
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