THE BASTARD BILLIONAIRE by Jessica Lemmon: Review

The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica Lemmon
Series: Billionaire Bad Boys #3
Published by Forever
Publication Date: February 28th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

Beauty and the Beastly Billionaire . . .

Eli Crane is one tough bastard. After an explosion left him injured and honorably discharged from the Marines, all he wants is to be left alone. Yet his brothers insist he take a greater role in the family business. They’ve hired him ten personal assistants—and Eli sent each one packing as fast as possible. But when beautiful number eleven walks through the door, Eli will do anything to make her stay.

 

Isabella Sawyer’s employment agency can’t afford to lose Eli Crane’s business. Her plan: to personally take on the role of his PA, and secure her reputation with the wealthy elite in Chicago. But this beauty and her hot billionaire bad boy soon find themselves mixing business with pleasure in the most delicious ways. And passionate, stubborn Isabella won’t rest until she tames this wicked beast . . .

 

Review

Jessica Lemmon really excels at writing stories that combine sweet, sexy and emotionally charged, and THE BASTARD BILLIONAIRE has all of that in the right amounts. I have been looking forward to this book since the first time Eli was mentioned and it was worth the wait.

Eli Crane planned on being career military but that plan was cut short abruptly when an explosion left him injured and took the lives of his friends and he’s finding it hard to fall into Plan B – life as the COO of Crane Hotels. Surly, snarly and grumpy, Eli just wants to be left alone and has run off every assistant sent his way. But he’s about to meet his match.

Isabella Sawyer needs the Cranes’ business to boost her employment agency’s profile and after Eli Crane chased off the eleventh assistant she sent him, it’s time for her to handle this by herself. And Isabella is nothing but determined to save her fledgling company even if it means bearding the lion in his den.

But nothing prepares Eli and Isabella for the sparks that fly between them. Isabella is intriguing in a lot of ways to Eli and brings his libido roaring back to life. After her last relationship fizzled out, Isabella avoided the dating scene and focused all her energy on her business, so having her new albeit temporary boss light that fire in her is complicated, to say the least. 

Isabella is magnificent. She’s beautiful and wields her looks like a weapon, sexy, passionate, smart and independent. Eli is a very interesting character. Under the difficult exterior lay a really giving heart, which was also wounded by the loss of his friends and survivor’s guilt.

Say what you will, but as their relationship goes from professional to personal they find themselves developing major feelings for each other, which bring up hidden emotional issues which they’ll need to overcome for a chance at happiness and a future. Eli’s struggles to open up in his relationships seem to predate his injury but his feelings of inadequacy have made it even harder for him to completely open himself up to anyone and it made my heart hurt for him. Isabella has found herself shortchanged emotionally multiple times by her parents and her ex and nothing but a full-throated declaration of love from Eli would do for her this time.

I really enjoyed reading this book and catching up with the rest of the Crane family and I liked how they supported Eli through his issues, without overwhelming him. I am so glad I got the chance to read this series and I highly recommend it.

 

 

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