Hello everyone!
Did you think it wasn't going to happen?
Naturally it was going to.
Of course Ms Woods has other holiday-themed ones that mostly happen in the summer in New Zealand, which always gives me whiplash since I live in the northern hemisphere and that means our winters are cold, not summery, but that's beside the point right now.
Tonight it's time to return to our favourite Billionaire Princes, and have a look at what their patriarch is up to when no one's looking (or he thinks no one's looking anyway).
And if you've been following me for a while you'll know that I've been covering this series from the very first book forward, which means that I will obviously cover it until the very last (we have two more to go!).
PLUS there's a small bonus happening here soon, but more on that later. For now, let's check out what Santa, the Billionaire, gets up to during the festive season!
I will have links to all the books in this series, and other connected ones (either through Ms Woods or this holiday theme I have going) sorted out down below, as per usual.
Santa, the Billionaire, as per the cover up top, follows the story of Nick Prince, who just so happens to be the father of the five kids we've been mingling with and hearing about in previous books (or will hear from in the next). He was married to Olivia for a long time, but unfortunately she passed away from a brain aneurysm about two years before this story begins, so he's been widowed since.
And where does our story begin? In the maternity ward, that's where, where Kora, Nick's daughter, is giving birth to her twins. Elena, Nick's PA, joins the waiting family and is just in time for the news of the safe delivery, which is fantastic, but the important bit here is that Nick kisses her, right there in the middle of the waiting room!
Now, a little note here: Elena has been sort of pining after Nick for the last twelve years or so, ever since she started working for him, actually, but Olivia was her best friend and obviously the man was married before.
It finally looks as if he might be ready to move on ... until he does nothing for two weeks afterwards, which convinces Elena he regrets what happens and isn't into her, and combined with the fact that she spends most of her salary to help her sister and nephew after her brother-in-law had an accident that left him in a wheelchair, well, she makes the hard decision to finally move on, resign from her position, and move to be closer to her family.
Naturally, this happens right before Christmas time when Nick ends up kissing her under the mistletoe in the office, and proclaiming that he's finally ready to get things going, which is the WORST timing I have ever seen in my entire life thus far (not counting all the Hallmark movies and their timing here) and giggle-inducing if not for the fact it was so bad.
Anyway, Elena turns Nick down, and explains about her resignation, though of course being a billionaire AND a Prince he's not just going to give up, either, especially after she shares a little bit more about her sister's current situation with him (which, admittedly, isn't good, if we're being honest here).
Since Nick is going to play Santa and meet up with none other than his cousin Brock King (don't you just love the Kings who keep popping up in these Christmas stories?) he offers to fly her to where she needs to go (it's good to be a billionaire), and by the time the Santa gig is up (and Brock has offered some charismatic matchmaking advice, as you do), they finally reach Elena's sister's house ... where it's revealed she's got a nice bruise on her face.
Nick is pissed, even though technically Elena's brother-in-law didn't hit his wife, but he caused it, so Elena and he take the other woman with them, after which Nick suggests they join him on a Christmas cruise for two weeks, to both remove her from temptation AND to give the other guy some time to cool off, and think about what he's done.
So they do just that, and honestly in this crazy world where travel is still so iffy for most people, it's a treat to take a virtual sort of holiday with characters as lovely as these three, especially as Nick and Elena keep circling closer and closer together.
It should be noted that Elena's sister also has an almost-affair with the ship's captain, not that she goes through with it, but in the meantime her son arrives home for Christmas to be with his father, adamant that his mom should stay where she is and have fun, and let him help her for once.
And our lovebirds? Well, let's just say the breaks are off, finally, and even though Elena submitted that transfer and everything, Nick decides that being a billionaire kind of has perks, and he doesn't want to be the family company CEO anymore, either (neither dos his firstborn, mind you, but the second son will PROBABLY love the job). This frees up his time so he might as well maybe just relocate to be closer to Elena, right?
I mean, they ring in the New Year together, too, so there's definitely something there.
But they do first have to tie off loose ends, and once the cruise is over return to the scene of the crime, so to speak ... where they get a bit of a surprise. Well, Elena and her sister do.
See, while Nick and Elena were exchanging little secrets (like the one in which Olivia wanted Nick to promise he and Elena would get together after she passed away, or the one where Elena admits that her ex-husband was a cross-dresser, though she would have stood by him anyway, but he didn't want children so that was the straw that broke the camel's back ... and unfortunately he committed suicide shortly after the divorce) Nick put in a call to Brock.
Brock and Charlie paid Elena's brother-in-law a visit, and got him straightened out as best as they could, including but not limited to getting him into an AA group and a consultation with a doctor who may or may not be able to restore the use of his legs, but most importantly, put him in touch with someone who can put the man's talents as a carpenter to good use even now.
With that pretty much sorted (Nick is paying for the treatments, of course), Elena and Nick are finally free to think about their own future, Nick as a potential writer working on his first book in that moment, and Elena ... well, Elena WANTS to be with him. She also kind of wants to travel, so the two of them decide hey, let's have the best of both worlds. Let's see more of said world since we can!
And since it's the holiday season when I'm typing this, it's where we'll leave them, planning their travelling future together and enjoying the time they'll have under the rotations of the sun, free of all the baggage of the past which is nicely stacked beside them and not dragging along now.
Tune in back in 2022 for more Princes as the next book releases, though! So keep an eye out.
And in the meantime, MAN did I love this.
I wanted a story about Nick from the minute he popped up in the very first Princes book, because he intrigued me, and also because as I myself move further from the YA books and heroes, I appreciate having mature main characters who have maybe gone through a few things in life but still deserve happy endings.
Nick and Elena were just that, and it's always a pleasure seeing what Ms Woods does with a story like this, full of sensitive things that she tackles with the utmost respect, and of course leading us all to the happily ever after we know has to be coming.
It's tastefully done, given that Nick is a widower and, in essence, so is Elena after what happened to her, but it's also realistic enough given she turns fifty in the book, and he's sixty, with five kids who have (or will have) families of their own.
But the book certainly isn't bogged down by any of the real life matters it discusses, and Nick and Elena's story shines through like the Star of Bethlehem.
So if you want a story with mature leads, a sure thing, a virtual cruise on top of it all AND, for bonus points, some King cameos to boot, I warmly suggest you pick this one up. Or any of the other Prince books, but this one in particular.
10/10 recommend!
xx
*image not mine
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