Hello everyone!
So here we are tonight.
And I mean, you KNOW I'll be reviewing a Serenity Woods book any chance I get, right?
Obviously.
I love her romance stories, the realness of them, the obstacles she writes so cleverly, but most importantly the way she writes her couples, who never do the dramatic Hallmark-y thing but actually behave like real people in real situations.
THAT's the draw for me, and why I keep coming back for more.
... well, that and all her hot billionaire men LOL.
Without further ado, let's wrap up Midnight Billionaires, shall we, since we're starting a new series soon enough? Here's Midnight Bargain.
Midnight Bargain concludes the trilogy about the billionaires who feel like they really ought to contribute to the world and so set up a foundation they run through their Midnight Club organization, wherein they choose charities and causes to support.
Kingi, our hero and Orson's good friend (also Marama's brother, she of Midnight Secret fame), is currently on the hot seat because he's what you'd call a bit of a playboy, which in itself isn't anything inherently BAD - but he's interviewing to lead a foundation for underprivileged youth and help them both learn new things and get a better shot at life.
For that, he kinda needs to NOT be a playboy, and the board explains they'd like to see some commitment from him before they consider him a serious candidate.
Enter Chessie, his childhood best friend.
She works for her father's gardening company, and is actually currently running it since her family's fallen on a bit of hard time, between her dad's heart attack and her brother's gambling addiction. She's very fond of Kingi and they're basically best friends even now, despite the fact she's clearly wary of his high end lifestyle.
Kingi has a brilliant idea tho: why wouldn't she pose as his fiancée for a bit, until he secures the spot he wants? Obviously it wouldn't be without benefits for her either, because he'd help with a monetary injection to her business as well as clearing her brother's debts, but, still.
She's naturally hesitant, but convinced by her housemates that she really should just have some fun with it, she finally agrees and goes to dinner with him, and Orson and Scarlett (from Midnight Enemy) to kick things off, because there's lots of paparazzi there and they're bound to catch them together.
That's also where she gets to meet Kingi's ex, Sabrina, who very clearly isn't going to go down without a fight, but it is what it is, because Kingi and Chessie are already toeing the line of what's fake and what's real attraction.
They're both young and healthy, so I mean, there's no REAL issue haha!
Things start looking up, except when Cinderella shows up for the ball at Midnight Club where Kingi will announce their engagement, Sabrina ALSO shows up.
And claims she's pregnant with Kingi's child.
So THAT's right down the drain, right there, although they do talk it out afterwards, and Chessie suggests being kind to Sabrina rather than going scorched earth, so Kingi takes her advice and the two talk it out, wherein he offers her a spot with the charity so that she can help, since she's also on the board of other outreach programs, particularly for younger women, and he thinks they can achieve a lot working together.
Having avoided THAT pitfall, Kingi faces another when his father - who initially forbade him from going after Chessie when they were younger, saying he could do so much better than 'the gardener's daughter' - is revealed to be cheating on his mother, and they'll be filing for divorce. It's Kingi, actually, who encourages the divorce bit, because his dad thinks it'll ruin his and the family's reputation (talk about arrogance, there), but Kingi says it's the 21st century, and his mother deserves some respect, too.
Meanwhile, Chessie's got her own demons to deal with when she comes home one time and finds her brother overdosed, unable to cope with his failures, and her dad has to be admitted into the hospital again for heart complications. The family have a long chat afterwards, with her brother agreeing to finally seek proper help, her dad deciding to formally transfer the business to Chessie, and Chessie admitting that, while her engagement started out fake, she and Kingi have decided to try and make a real go of it now.
He's even asked her to move in with him, which she's initially hesitant about, but after coming back to the house she shares with her friends and finding one of the housemates has taken up with her ex (who's slightly controlling and annoying), she makes an on-the-spot decision and hightails it to Kingi.
The book wraps with Orson and Kingi taking their girls up to Noah's Ark, where they've prepared a secret wedding ceremony that'll be just them, the officiant, and two witnesses, because they know they're both apprehensive about making it a big to-do like the wealthy circles demand. It's a lovely way to end the story, and it also conveniently re-introduces us to the Ark location, and introduces Cullen, hero of the next series opener, Stay for Christmas!
I very happily got to read an ARC of this book - thanks bunches to the author for sending it my way!
Kingi and Chessie's story is, as always, a love story. But it's also a story deeply rooted in community and family, in learning about your partner and your own wants in life, and that how you handle different situations speaks volumes of you as a person, then either creates further problems for you or solves them depending on your choice of path.
It's beautiful and real and I love that there's no misunderstanding whatsoever, but simple communication all around. People often say romance books are flimsy and silly, but that surely isn't true of these, because how can you not learn, from reading these stories?
Chessie and Kingi both learn and grow by leaps and bounds through their attraction and later partnership, and it's lovely.
My one teeny, tiny comment is that, while Orson and Scarlet are featured quite often, Marama only gets passing mentions, which is odd seeing as she's Kingi's sister and probably would have had a thing or two to say about the family situation, but Spencer isn't even around. In fact, throughout the book, it feels like Midnight Secret never even happened, which I find odd. Is it not part of this trilogy? Do Spencer and Marama not warrant at least more screen time than a one-time name-drop for him, the occasional 'Marama was there' for her? I don't know, it feels like everyone's keen on forgetting this couple, and I wonder why that is. It can't be the age gap, surely?
Aside from the fact this omission made the trilogy feel more like a duology, I genuinely enjoyed Kingi's story, and I'm looking forward to the new series in Sunrise Bay. Bring on the romance, feel-good, and family times!
Kingi and Chessie's story is, as always, a love story. But it's also a story deeply rooted in community and family, in learning about your partner and your own wants in life, and that how you handle different situations speaks volumes of you as a person, then either creates further problems for you or solves them depending on your choice of path.
It's beautiful and real and I love that there's no misunderstanding whatsoever, but simple communication all around. People often say romance books are flimsy and silly, but that surely isn't true of these, because how can you not learn, from reading these stories?
Chessie and Kingi both learn and grow by leaps and bounds through their attraction and later partnership, and it's lovely.
My one teeny, tiny comment is that, while Orson and Scarlet are featured quite often, Marama only gets passing mentions, which is odd seeing as she's Kingi's sister and probably would have had a thing or two to say about the family situation, but Spencer isn't even around. In fact, throughout the book, it feels like Midnight Secret never even happened, which I find odd. Is it not part of this trilogy? Do Spencer and Marama not warrant at least more screen time than a one-time name-drop for him, the occasional 'Marama was there' for her? I don't know, it feels like everyone's keen on forgetting this couple, and I wonder why that is. It can't be the age gap, surely?
Aside from the fact this omission made the trilogy feel more like a duology, I genuinely enjoyed Kingi's story, and I'm looking forward to the new series in Sunrise Bay. Bring on the romance, feel-good, and family times!
xx
*image not mine
No comments:
Post a Comment