Hello everyone!
Welcome to the next few weeks of Christmas-only themed blog posts, as we make our way through the magical month of December.
Yes, I say magical, because it IS magical, for me at least.
It isn't about the gifts and about the rush and the full stores and everybody being anxious, but it IS about spending time together with your family and loved ones, decorating, baking delicious goodies, drinking those warm beverages that always make you happy, etc.
For me, it's a time when my family tends to go a little bit overboard with the decorating (Chevy Chase comes to mind ...), but it's also sort of a time to unwind a little.
I get to spend it with the people that are nearest and dearest to my heart, and to top it all off I usually get to laugh so much it makes everything else worth it.
So without further ado, let's start with - you guessed it - my favourite contemporary romance author, Serenity Woods. Talking Dirty with the Billionaire Boss kind of came as a surprise, but it is an AWESOME read just the same.
I've covered pretty much three quarters of the author's books on this blog, I'm relatively sure, or at the very least a vast majority of them (I think I'm only really missing one series, at the moment), so I'll be linking that search query right here, but the Christmas-themed posts will be listed at the bottom of the page.
Onwards!
Talking Dirty with the Billionaire Boss gives us Mack and Sidnie, our protagonists. Sidnie works two jobs to make ends meet and to help her family, while Mack is a self-made billionaire of a tech company, and never the thane shall meet.
Only, they do meet, when Sidnie goes to clean his offices one evening, but is actually sent to spy on him, not that she finds anything interesting. She does, however, leave behind a sexy poem she'd written on a napkin, which prompts Mack to call her back so he can return it to her. He then asks her to accompany him to a party that evening, which is yet again an opportunity for her to spy.
However, she can't go through with it, especially after meeting Mack's closest friends and having the time of her life at the party, as well as really genuinely clicking with Mack, so she eventually tells him the truth, is kicked out from said party, and goes home crying.
Mack, after sobering up, goes to hear her side of the story, and she explains that someone approached her brother about a GoFundMe account the family had set up, because their father has cancer, and the only drugs that might actually help him aren't funded through the government, even though they're free in Australia and other countries, for example.
So they have to raise a lot of money to be able to afford them, and this guy offered to cover the expenses if he could get information on Mack's latest project.
Now, Mack being who he is, he'd already covered the GoFundMe account, but equally he wants to get to know Sidnie better because ... he can't get her out of his head. Literally.
Sidnie's the same, and she also has this fun series on TikTok, teaching people how to 'talk dirty' as it is, so you can imagine there's quite a bit of that in this book - and it is HAWT. So are any of their actual sex scenes, but trust me, these characters require them.
Often enough you'll run into books that are very much smut rather than plot-driven, but this one isn't like that. Yes, there's sex, but realistically, there are people who enjoy having a lot of it, and the book is still incredibly plot-driven, as Sid and Mack get closer and start to slowly uncover more and more of what makes the other person tick.
Since the story is happening over the holidays, we get the added New Zealand Christmas cheer, especially as one of Mack's friends is hosting a charity tennis tournament, that the couple attend - and win!
Much to the chagrin and anger of Mack's ex and her current partner, who also manages to really hurt Sidnie with a ball sent directly at her arm from a short distance away, but anyway.
Mack asks Sid to spend Christmas with him and his family, flying her up to where everyone's gathering, and she gets even closer to him and especially his brother Jamie, who acts as his chauffeur and ... everything man, really, even though Sid often suggests they can Uber rather than wake him up in the middle of the night.
By the time we're drawing near to New Year's, things suddenly heat up when Mack's ex calls to apologise, and mentions an award she never should have even heard about. Mack then assumes Elizabeth - one of his friends and someone he's working closely with - must have told David, the ex's current partner, and goes on a rampage.
But it's Sid who figures out that it's DAVID who hired her to spy on Mack - eagle-eyed readers might be able to put two and two together relatively soon in the books, but I'm not saying where or how - and so Mack course corrects and goes to punch the guy on the nose once he shows up and tries to make disparaging remarks about Sidnie.
The couple retire together for New Year's Eve, and Mack even takes the day after off; Sid's father is responding well to treatment so she's hopeful for the future, but equally curious about Mack's past, all things considered.
So he tells her how he was the product of a one-night-stand his mother didn't want and spent punishing his entire life, how she had Jamie with another man, and how her then-partner started sexually abusing him, prompting Mack to find his actual father online, which then sent his dad and grandfather to the UK to take the kids back with them. It's why Mack hates his birthdays and awards (he was always punished especially hard on those days) and why he has no contact with his mother.
But Sid isn't letting it go just yet, and arranges with Elizabeth that instead of Mack being nominated for the award, the entire team should be, and surprise surprise, the council debating the recipients not only awards them all, but switches to the highest level of the award one can receive in New Zealand - The Rutherford Medal.
And given Mack's been researching a way to help cure cancer with his super-computer, you can bet how happy Sidnie is. The two move in together, and she finishes writing her book, hoping to publish it; Mack proposes to her on Valentine's Day and suggests she quit both her jobs to focus solely on writing. He also gifts her a little puppy, the offspring of his own Spaniel, and the future for everyone involved looks very, very merry and bright!
In case you're wondering - I was very generously sent an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
And I can VERY honestly say I loved it - no shock there as I think Ms Woods does a fantastic job with each book she sends off to print.
I like Sidnie for her generosity and down-to-earth attitude. She has such a kind soul and is trying her best, picking herself up if she falls and keeping on. You have to admire that!
I love Mack and I think he can definitely join the lineup of billionaire heroes that we all enjoy reading about. I feel like he has so much depth to him. Which is why I feel as though we kind of just barely scratched the surface of what makes him tick.
Now don't get me wrong here. I thoroughly appreciate the in-the-moment vibe of the book and the focus being in the here and now, but I just feel as though a smidgeon more might have covered it.
And for those saying this is just one of those "smutty" books - HAH. Well you're welcome to your opinion of course. But you're missing out, not only on some steamy sessions (yowza!) but equally on the growth of a relationship that goes from strength to strength.
This story has it all, great main characters, superb supporting cast, heart-rending plotline, feel-good vibes and the glorious backdrop of New Zealand.
So treat yourself this Christmas, and let Mack and Sidnie take you away when the book releases on December 3rd!
And I can VERY honestly say I loved it - no shock there as I think Ms Woods does a fantastic job with each book she sends off to print.
I like Sidnie for her generosity and down-to-earth attitude. She has such a kind soul and is trying her best, picking herself up if she falls and keeping on. You have to admire that!
I love Mack and I think he can definitely join the lineup of billionaire heroes that we all enjoy reading about. I feel like he has so much depth to him. Which is why I feel as though we kind of just barely scratched the surface of what makes him tick.
Now don't get me wrong here. I thoroughly appreciate the in-the-moment vibe of the book and the focus being in the here and now, but I just feel as though a smidgeon more might have covered it.
And for those saying this is just one of those "smutty" books - HAH. Well you're welcome to your opinion of course. But you're missing out, not only on some steamy sessions (yowza!) but equally on the growth of a relationship that goes from strength to strength.
This story has it all, great main characters, superb supporting cast, heart-rending plotline, feel-good vibes and the glorious backdrop of New Zealand.
So treat yourself this Christmas, and let Mack and Sidnie take you away when the book releases on December 3rd!
xx
*image not mine
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