Hello everyone!
In the meantime, let's have a look at another book.
As we usually do, of course.
And this week is a pretty huge deal BECAUSE, it's the end of a long-running series, called A Boss in a Billion, by Serenity Woods.
This trilogy's titled The Christchurch Billionaires, and man oh man have they been amazing to read.
Now with Henry and Juliette's story, it all comes to an end, in the best way possible of course.
There isn't any other way when Ms Woods is the one writing these books!
So let's look at Juliette and the Billionaire Boss, then.
In Juliette and the Billionaire Boss, we once again rewind the clock to some of the events that have already happened, like the Christmas trivia and Damon and Belle's wedding, but we get to witness them from different perspectives, namely, Henry and Juliette's.
Henry, who's been pining after Juliette since ... forever.
And Juliette of course, who's also held a torch for Henry since ... forever.
The problem here is that she's been in a relationship with her current boyfriend, Cam, since FOREVER, as well, and Henry's divorced from his wife and just, maudlin really.
Then the trivia night happens, Cam storms off, and Juliette says fuck this guy, I want to enjoy myself. Which then leads to her and Henry having pretty hot sex together, and of course she regrets it in the morning, and runs right back home to try and salvage things with Cam.
Now the thing with this idiot is that he has trouble in the bedroom, unfortunately because he experienced sexual abuse in his younger years, and without telling Juliette he went to see a sex counselor of sorts (in fairness, Cam does a LOT of things without consulting Juliette, mostly just expecting her to tag along because, why wouldn't she, right?). She views this as a betrayal and doesn't feel comfortable with the light BDSM he wants to practice, which leads to even MORE problems.
I'd like to set the record straight here: nobody's actually at fault for this. People like what they like. The problem arises when they try to force others to like what they like.
So Juliette's unhappy, but she can't bring herself to cut loose from Cam after so many years together, not even when she and Henry REALLY hook up properly at Damon and Belle's wedding, to which Cam does not go, of course.
Okay, I'm being unfair here.
Juliette always feels like she's going to be able to break it off with Cam when she's with Henry, but the minute she's away her old fears and doubts resurface. To top this off, throughout the course of the story, we learn that his entire family really depends on her to just sort things out for them, and things aren't all that rosy: his mother's severely depressed, his dad's on the verge of walking out, and after Christmas his brother also has a heart attack, so it's not like it's all sunshine and roses here.
The last straw comes when Cam explains he had to quit his job because he couldn't take more leave, and now he'll be headed to Australia - not discussing it with her, not anything really, just sort of saying it, demanding she tag along, even though her friends, family AND a really great job are all in New Zealand.
Listen, it's such a whirlwind that I can't even explain everything in one blog post, it's a lot of back-and-forth, but Henry's a gem throughout all of this. Still only human, but he's as patient with Juliette as can be, waiting her out.
Then, she finds out she's pregnant.
Great news, right? A ha ha, well, if you've been reading lots of romances, then you probably know where this is going, BUT, we kinda all know Henry's sterile. He can't have babies - it's why his marriage with his ex fell apart.
Which means the baby has to be Cam's.
THAT throws another wrench in the plans, and it takes Juliette's mother to explain to her that, maybe Henry's devastated and thinks she's staying with Cam BECAUSE she's such a trustworthy person and loyal, and has a sense of duty, not for any other, negative reason.
And seeing as his own familial relationships are all sinking slowly (his nephew manages to get a girl pregnant, she chooses abortion, and he ODs, which all culminates in Henry having to step in and send the kid to a school where they'll hopefully be able to help him out), Juliette "staying" with Cam is the final nail in the coffin.
Until, that is, she shows up at work and tells him she doesn't choose Cam - she chooses Henry.
Of course this is followed by Cam storming in and getting his ass handed to him, but you know how it goes.
Anyway, our trio of people start to navigate this new version of their relationship, with Henry eventually establishing firm boundaries which Juliette is clearly unable to do when it comes to Cam and his family, and then they go to visit Saxon and Caity, they of the Cinderella and the Billionaire Boss fame.
Where Saxon gives a little lesson on fertility, expedites a DNA check, and lo and behold, the baby's actually Henry's, not Cam's.
Considering he's been told pretty much the last few years of his adult life he's not fully a man because he can't impregnate someone, you can imagine what an emotional shock this is for Henry.
But he and Juliette DO get a happily ever after with that! And in a short little skit that Ms Woods penned down, we learn that all's well with the baby, and all the other billionaires chime in too with updates of their own.
Basically, they all lived happily ever after, to the end of their days!
I was so very, very kindly sent an ARC of this book 🥰 in case I haven't mentioned before.
And this was a hard one, for many reasons.
Most notably, however, it was because of two things: we got to see Juliette's then-boyfriend manipulate her, and we got an inside look at his family life. THAT hit so close to home for me, as a doctor back then told my grandmother, after a hit-and-run accident my grandfather was victim of, that nobody would blame her if she packed the kids up and left. That grandpa would never be the same again.
My grandmother ended up staying, and the both of them are now at peace, with worldly pains and aches behind them, but the road was NOT easy. For her, or for us really.
That's possibly why it took me longer than usual to finish reading this book. Because on top of THAT, I also have another family member who returned to a not-good relationship because of the comfort and security it brings after so many years.
So what I'm saying is: this book resonated with me DEEPLY. And I love Juliette and Henry all the more for it, because they both have very human, very real reactions to situations that don't go against their character arcs.
And I'm so stoked for their HEA! I was hoping it might pan out that way, I really was.
Overall, this book was evocative, emotional, encouraging, engrossing, and I could probably find other words starting on E. As it's a series closer, it's also kind of bitter-sweet BUT we're getting a new one sort of jump-starting off Henry's book, and I can't wait.
Ms Woods continues bringing her A game, and I'm here for it.
100/10 recommend!
And this was a hard one, for many reasons.
Most notably, however, it was because of two things: we got to see Juliette's then-boyfriend manipulate her, and we got an inside look at his family life. THAT hit so close to home for me, as a doctor back then told my grandmother, after a hit-and-run accident my grandfather was victim of, that nobody would blame her if she packed the kids up and left. That grandpa would never be the same again.
My grandmother ended up staying, and the both of them are now at peace, with worldly pains and aches behind them, but the road was NOT easy. For her, or for us really.
That's possibly why it took me longer than usual to finish reading this book. Because on top of THAT, I also have another family member who returned to a not-good relationship because of the comfort and security it brings after so many years.
So what I'm saying is: this book resonated with me DEEPLY. And I love Juliette and Henry all the more for it, because they both have very human, very real reactions to situations that don't go against their character arcs.
And I'm so stoked for their HEA! I was hoping it might pan out that way, I really was.
Overall, this book was evocative, emotional, encouraging, engrossing, and I could probably find other words starting on E. As it's a series closer, it's also kind of bitter-sweet BUT we're getting a new one sort of jump-starting off Henry's book, and I can't wait.
Ms Woods continues bringing her A game, and I'm here for it.
100/10 recommend!
xx
*image not mine
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