Hello everyone!
I'm circling back to my one true love, books written by Serenity Woods, as you can imagine.
The great thing about finding an author who you genuinely enjoy as much as I enjoy reading Ms Woods' books is that, if you're extremely lucky, they may be writing and writing and writing, and you know you have SO many more books to look forward to in future!
Take this one, for example.
It wraps up a tentative trilogy - though I don't think it was initially planned that way - while also introducing us to the hero of the NEXT trilogy starter, all in one go.
Not to mention it features all of our favourites from the first two books as well as my absolute favourite characters of them all, really.
So enough about me just chattering about this, and let's just get on with it, shall we? Our choice tonight is Faking Love with the Billionaire Boss.
So in Talking Dirty with the Billionaire Boss, we first meet Titus, our hero, who's one of the friend group around the billionaires making their home in Auckland, New Zealand. Then One Night with the Billionaire Boss gives us Heidi, our heroine.
And also tells us that Titus kissed Heidi when she was sixteen years old, but nothing's come of it since, so you just KNOW that it's going to be amazing once it gets going.
It totally is, too.
Heidi is a teacher living in the UK when she gets a message from Titus, who is ALSO currently in the UK. In the previous book, his company was offered a large investment for an IVF connected project and they'd like for him to move for two years so that he could spearhead it from their labs and AI center.
He's not really sold on that, but Huxley (his best friend) asks him to check on Heidi while he's there because she seems to be having some guy trouble, which is kind of right because her ex just won't leave her alone. After over-hearing a confrontation when she doesn't end their Zoom call, Titus hops into the car and heads on over to her place, and they decide he's going to stay with her until the coming weekend.
Oh also, he's asked her to tag along with him to this weekend getaway where the CEO of the company that's investing - his name's Alan - will be doing his hardest to convince him to stay.
So leading up to the weekend, Titus and Heidi explore together and she shows him around a little since most of his time has been spent working and not taking in the sights ... and they try very, very hard to keep their hands off each other because they recognize it might be doomed even before it begins, considering they live on opposite ends of the world, and she's his friend's kid sister to top it all off.
But all her friends like him, her grandparents also love him, and her grandmother dishes some wisdom that if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. So they do get to the kissing stage at this point, but clothes are still on and it feels like they could still turn back if need be.
Spoiler alert: not on their lives.
Then they head on down for the weekend, manage to get themselves tangled up in the welcome, and emerge as a would-be couple because the hosts seem to think they are, and Titus doesn't clock into it fast enough to correct them!
Heidi laughs it off and says they should be good enough friends to fake it for the short amount of time they're there ... and that's about as game over as you can get it to be.
Against the backdrop of the wonderful weekend Alan and his wife have set up for Titus (a cocktail party, the use of their house, an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery, a hot air balloon ride, etc.) our main characters finally just give in to their attraction and decide to live in the moment, figure things out later at some point.
And HOO my goodness! Bring your fans and prepare cold showers, because they are hot, hot, hot!
All throughout though, Titus is aware that he's going to be heading back to New Zealand in the end, while Heidi will stay in the UK because she's happy here, but because both actually communicate with one another and everything is constantly very openly on the table, you really don't know exactly how they're going to solve this problem until the very end (I mean, you can guess, but I don't know if you'll figure it out outright to the last detail).
Finally, Alan and Titus head on in to work to iron out the kinks of this potential agreement, and it turns out that while Titus was convinced they wouldn't invest if he didn't move, Alan was ALWAYS going to invest (all his daughters have had trouble conceiving and he can see the immense potential in Titus' project, not to mention genius) no matter what, but also that he knew Titus and Heidi weren't a thing, so he was kinda sorta playing matchmaker on the suggestion of previous book's heroine, Elizabeth.
To top that off, as he's a genuinely lovely man, he also offers Titus some fatherly wisdom, since the man's own dad is a little bit meh all around, and now the door is open for our hero to return home and let the rest of it be.
But even so, after switching flights so that he and Heidi can fly back for Huxley's wedding together, Titus isn't satisfied, because regardless that neither of them should have to move for the other, he doesn't want to lose her, so he asks her to stay with him for her duration in New Zealand, so that at least they can delay their parting if nothing else.
Once back on home soil, so to speak, we also finally get to unpack some family drama on both sides, as Heidi explains that her father was quite controlling and borderline abusive when she was younger, that he lost the plot when she said she was moving, and backhanded her across the face.
Her siblings, who never quite believed things were as bad as she was making them out to be, are horrified when this comes to light at her welcome home party (after Titus tells Huxley and Huxley yeets their father out of there faster than a speeding bullet), and they slowly start to mend the cracks in their relationships caused by this.
Then it's time for the wedding, and weddings in Ms Woods' books are always a magical occurrence, so this one is no exception as the characters feast and enjoy a good time together (also, for those of you wondering, no, Huxley didn't throw a tantrum about his friend dating his sister, because he's got the use of his brain and knows his sister is an adult who can date whoever she chooses, so none of that brother-friend nonsense you often see elsewhere).
It's also here that Titus announces he's moving to the UK to be with Heidi and to go at the project there, excited about the possibility of the future.
The only thing left then is to go meet the sets of parents on each side, where Heidi's father breaks down and apologizes to her, starting the long road to rebuilding trust and a relationship, and Titus' father recognizes that pushing his son as hard as he has will lead to losing him if he isn't careful, particularly as he's heard from Heidi's dad and come clean about an affair he'd been having with his secretary.
Titus gives Heidi his grandmother's ring as a promise before she returns to the UK, and then at the very end surprises her - this is something you HAVE to see coming! - when she finds him waiting by her care one day after work when she wasn't expecting him to be there until next week still.
And that's it, they get their happily ever after!
If you're wondering how I got my hands on a book that hasn't even released yet - I very graciously got sent an ARC so I could review this book early.
This is my favourite of the Auckland Billionaires trilogy, hands down. I liked Mack and Sidnie - and I really enjoyed being introduced into this series. I was okay with Elizabeth and Huxley, mostly because I had issues with Elizabeth - but OHMYGOSH I LOVE TITUS AND HEIDI!
This is my favourite of the Auckland Billionaires trilogy, hands down. I liked Mack and Sidnie - and I really enjoyed being introduced into this series. I was okay with Elizabeth and Huxley, mostly because I had issues with Elizabeth - but OHMYGOSH I LOVE TITUS AND HEIDI!
Their relationship ballooned completely and started a raging inferno, but what I enjoyed about this story the most is just how REAL it is, around every single corner.
We have romantic relationships and their issues, personal relationships and their issues, familial relationships and their issues (slight TW for domestic abuse and just parents being irritatingly obnoxious throughout), and overall, neither Titus nor Heidi go hysterical. Especially Heidi. I have this thing with my romantic heroines where I just can't once they start being unreasonable, don't communicate well (or at all) and blame everything on the poor schmuck who I wonder why he even stays with them to begin with.
Now as I've said, given that Heidi lives in the UK and Titus in New Zealand, you can probably imagine some of what these two have to face together - but let me tell you, the time they ARE together is just perfection. And I love it even more because Titus fits in so well where she's currently at, and manages to make everything seem so easy. Plus, the supporting cast, particularly those introduced in the UK, are stellar, and just what both Heidi and Titus need to get through their obstacles, imagined or real.
Obviously, the story has a happily ever after, but with almost 500 pages I DARE you to not cry at least one time, maybe more. I sniffled quite a bit.
Ms Woods is hitting the ball out of the park with this new series, and I can't wait for The Wellington Billionaires promised to come our way. Her writing, as always, remains a delight, her characters have heart and personality, and the issues she addresses are very real, very present, and incredibly important to keep coming back to, because they aren't going away.
Domestic abuse in any way, shape or form is no joke. We need to be mindful about it, and we need to make strides towards changes.
But if you want to escape a little bit, and thoroughly enjoy the undeniable attraction and chemistry slowly blossoming into love between Heidi and Titus, then I urge you to pick this one up. It has everything - romance, friendship, awesome side characters, wonderful resolutions (of which some need work, but that's how it is IRL, so), the beauty of the English countryside coupled with the stunning vista of New Zealand.
Above all else, what I think this book does so well is make its characters relatable. They're afraid, they cry, they're angry, they want to do something, but they follow their better judgement (most of the time, anyway). They may be characters on a page, but they're a lot like you and I, really.
This is definitely one that I'm absolutely getting in printed form once I can get my grubby little hands on it.
100/10 recommend, and make sure to pick it up this Saturday, March 18!
We have romantic relationships and their issues, personal relationships and their issues, familial relationships and their issues (slight TW for domestic abuse and just parents being irritatingly obnoxious throughout), and overall, neither Titus nor Heidi go hysterical. Especially Heidi. I have this thing with my romantic heroines where I just can't once they start being unreasonable, don't communicate well (or at all) and blame everything on the poor schmuck who I wonder why he even stays with them to begin with.
Now as I've said, given that Heidi lives in the UK and Titus in New Zealand, you can probably imagine some of what these two have to face together - but let me tell you, the time they ARE together is just perfection. And I love it even more because Titus fits in so well where she's currently at, and manages to make everything seem so easy. Plus, the supporting cast, particularly those introduced in the UK, are stellar, and just what both Heidi and Titus need to get through their obstacles, imagined or real.
Obviously, the story has a happily ever after, but with almost 500 pages I DARE you to not cry at least one time, maybe more. I sniffled quite a bit.
Ms Woods is hitting the ball out of the park with this new series, and I can't wait for The Wellington Billionaires promised to come our way. Her writing, as always, remains a delight, her characters have heart and personality, and the issues she addresses are very real, very present, and incredibly important to keep coming back to, because they aren't going away.
Domestic abuse in any way, shape or form is no joke. We need to be mindful about it, and we need to make strides towards changes.
But if you want to escape a little bit, and thoroughly enjoy the undeniable attraction and chemistry slowly blossoming into love between Heidi and Titus, then I urge you to pick this one up. It has everything - romance, friendship, awesome side characters, wonderful resolutions (of which some need work, but that's how it is IRL, so), the beauty of the English countryside coupled with the stunning vista of New Zealand.
Above all else, what I think this book does so well is make its characters relatable. They're afraid, they cry, they're angry, they want to do something, but they follow their better judgement (most of the time, anyway). They may be characters on a page, but they're a lot like you and I, really.
This is definitely one that I'm absolutely getting in printed form once I can get my grubby little hands on it.
100/10 recommend, and make sure to pick it up this Saturday, March 18!
xx
*image not mine
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