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A review by geo_ix
The Billionaire and the Virgin by Jessica Clare
4.0
4.5 stars because there were a few too many holes in the story for me and they both really needed to grow on you.
I can say right now, this book won’t be for everyone. The female lead is a bit like me, a grandma at heart that prefers hanging with the oldies and doing ‘old people’ stuff than going out getting wasted etc. but she’s also a super stereotypical virgin (naive about everything and everyone). The male lead is basically leading a double life. The world knows him as a 30+ year old frat boy (his tv network is a ‘blokes’ thing where they go round telling chicks to show their tits on camera for money and a few other things) and she knows him as his at home persona (caring and considerate, easy going and a bit crude).
She eventually got better and so did he, and at points they both because either annoying or cringey, but overall it was also kinda realistic. Both characters felt different than the usual personalities in many romances. They won’t mesh well with people because a) he’s a bit of a douche at times, and b) she’s not really relatable to a large audience due to her personality, circumstances etc. but they felt real, like a friend you have or something. She’s super self conscious about her height etc, he’s super worried he isn’t good enough for her. He knows his network isn’t great but it made him money when he had nothing and he’s clinging to it, even though he hates the life it gives him (the women) and wants something more (he’s there to make a deal with Logan but Logan can’t respect him and he can’t really see why he wouldn’t do a deal to make money - money is really his only motivator in his business not enjoyment etc).
So yeah, they felt super real and I guess that’s what I also got from the previous series. I liked the people because they weren’t all the damn same. None of them speak the same, they’ve all got different back stories that completely make them different people and I find when reading as many romance as I do, and series where there’s a heap of friends or family members etc as the mains, they sometimes feel really similar in those series’. Like oh ones a little grumpy or into bdsm but take that away and they all the same guys. Same with the girls, ones shy or bombshell but their views are all the same they’re all attracted to the same looking guys and no one seems to have quirks or odd things they’re all just a bit ‘perfect’ (even the clumsy ones lol).
So it’s nice to see different people.
Do you need to read the previous series to understand this? No. The characters are all there, but the only mention that would really have people going ‘huh?’ Would be Cade’s appearance and why his date isn’t there, but it wasn’t in a way you’d be frustrated like you didn’t know a secret, i feel like you’d be more inclined to go read his book and see what was troubling him. The married (or to be married) couple mention how they met on the beach etc, but no more than that so it felt like a natural conversation not a huge recap of events and it made it work much more. I think it helped she knew them, and knew but barely knew the other girls so it was an observers perspective, she’d already know most of their stories etc and it didn’t need to be brought up again.
I can say right now, this book won’t be for everyone. The female lead is a bit like me, a grandma at heart that prefers hanging with the oldies and doing ‘old people’ stuff than going out getting wasted etc. but she’s also a super stereotypical virgin (naive about everything and everyone). The male lead is basically leading a double life. The world knows him as a 30+ year old frat boy (his tv network is a ‘blokes’ thing where they go round telling chicks to show their tits on camera for money and a few other things) and she knows him as his at home persona (caring and considerate, easy going and a bit crude).
She eventually got better and so did he, and at points they both because either annoying or cringey, but overall it was also kinda realistic. Both characters felt different than the usual personalities in many romances. They won’t mesh well with people because a) he’s a bit of a douche at times, and b) she’s not really relatable to a large audience due to her personality, circumstances etc. but they felt real, like a friend you have or something. She’s super self conscious about her height etc, he’s super worried he isn’t good enough for her. He knows his network isn’t great but it made him money when he had nothing and he’s clinging to it, even though he hates the life it gives him (the women) and wants something more (he’s there to make a deal with Logan but Logan can’t respect him and he can’t really see why he wouldn’t do a deal to make money - money is really his only motivator in his business not enjoyment etc).
So yeah, they felt super real and I guess that’s what I also got from the previous series. I liked the people because they weren’t all the damn same. None of them speak the same, they’ve all got different back stories that completely make them different people and I find when reading as many romance as I do, and series where there’s a heap of friends or family members etc as the mains, they sometimes feel really similar in those series’. Like oh ones a little grumpy or into bdsm but take that away and they all the same guys. Same with the girls, ones shy or bombshell but their views are all the same they’re all attracted to the same looking guys and no one seems to have quirks or odd things they’re all just a bit ‘perfect’ (even the clumsy ones lol).
So it’s nice to see different people.
Do you need to read the previous series to understand this? No. The characters are all there, but the only mention that would really have people going ‘huh?’ Would be Cade’s appearance and why his date isn’t there, but it wasn’t in a way you’d be frustrated like you didn’t know a secret, i feel like you’d be more inclined to go read his book and see what was troubling him. The married (or to be married) couple mention how they met on the beach etc, but no more than that so it felt like a natural conversation not a huge recap of events and it made it work much more. I think it helped she knew them, and knew but barely knew the other girls so it was an observers perspective, she’d already know most of their stories etc and it didn’t need to be brought up again.