Release Blitz + Review: "The Billionaire's Princess" by Ava Ryan

Congratulations to author Ava Ryan on the release of her brand-new novel, "The Billionaire's Princess," book #1 of the Fairy Tale Billionaires series.

 

I hate writing reviews that are less than completely enthusiastic, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. I'm generally a fan of stories about royalty, which is why I was drawn to this book after reading the synopsis. In the end, however, the male lead, Damon, was a bit too insecure and alpha for me, and those two characteristics combined to make him come across as more of a jerk than anything else IMO. I liked the female lead, Carly, well enough, but she wasn't quite enough to save the book for me.

 

Because of my mixed feelings about this book, I can't give it my wholehearted recommendation. That said, it may well appeal to fans of very dominant, alpha heroes and/or the insta-lust/insta-love trope. It's a very quick read with plenty of steam, so at least it has that going for it! 

About "The Billionaire's Princess"

No one melts this ice princess but me.

Friday nights have a routine.

Drinks with my brothers. Maybe a casual hookup later.

Then the ice princess walks into the bar. And it's game over for me.

I can't figure her out. She runs hot and cold. She turns me inside-out.

I like to keep my one-night stands cut and dried--my ambitions outweigh my emotions every time. Until she disappears without a trace. And I discover her little secret.

She's an actual princess.

I need more than one night from her. Much more.

A woman like that deserves the whole fairy tale. She deserves a charming prince.

Too bad I'm the one that's going to earn all her happy endings...

 

 

My Review

 

I had mixed feelings about "The Billionaire's Princess" by Ava Ryan. On the positive side, it was a quick read with plenty of steam, and the chemistry between main characters Damon and Carly was electric from page one. However, it was sometimes tough to tell if the sparks between them ignited because they wanted to slap each other or if they were ready to tear each other's clothes off. (If I were Carly, I would have wanted to slap Damon at several points over the course of the story, so I can understand the impulse.)

I mostly liked Carly as a lead character, but found it somewhat difficult to empathize with her when the worst problem she faced was that her uncle might cut off her allowance and she would have to get a job to support herself. That said, I did feel bad about the fact that her father kept trying to push her and her ex-fiance, Percy, back together just because it would benefit him financially. As Carly herself noted at one point, we're long past the time when a princess can be married off for money or political connections! As an adult, Carly had the right to make her own decisions, including who she would (or wouldn't) marry. Her father seemed to lose sight of that at times and treated her as if she were a pawn to be used to his advantage.

 

Unfortunately, I did not like Damon as much as I liked Carly. He had a lot of emotional baggage related to his mother's abandonment and subsequent death when he was a boy, and IMO he should have sought professional help long before trying to have a romantic relationship with anyone. He continued to think of himself as a "loser" despite being a self-made almost-billionaire, and seemed to compensate for his insecurities by being overly alpha, very demanding, and not taking no for an answer. I wasn't a fan of how crude Damon could sometimes be, either; at one point he talked about being left alone "picking his nose" to wait for Carly, and later mused about feeling like he was trying to eat dog leavings. Neither of those are images I ever want to have in my mind, but especially not while I'm reading a romance novel!

Overall, I didn't hate "The Billionaire's Princess," but I can't give it my wholehearted recommendation either. However, it may appeal to readers who are drawn to very dominant, alpha heroes and/or the insta-lust/insta-love trope.

 

*Review copy provided by the author via Grey's Promotions. All opinions expressed are my own.