Following a traumatic end to his military career, former Navy SEAL Gray Lupine went to work for his friend Wilder's private security firm. He's since befriended one of the firm's clients, the elderly Mrs. Hood, who's asked him to track down her estranged granddaughter, Scarlett. They lost touch after her son and his wife divorced, and her son passed away shortly thereafter. Gray finds Scarlett and invites her to visit on Mrs. Hood's behalf, but both are shocked when they come face to face and recognize each other from three years earlier. After being dumped on the morning of her destination wedding in the Greek Islands, Scarlett met Gray in the hotel bar and they ended up spending her non-honeymoon week together, but they haven't seen each other since. Understandably, they don't trust each other at first, but they soon realize that they haven't been able to stop thinking about each other over the years. Their relationship reignites, but can Gray and Scarlett overcome the baggage of their pasts and find a way to build a future together?
Honestly, I wasn't sure how well this particular fairy tale would translate as a modernized
retelling, but the author came up with some really creative and clever
ways to integrate the key elements of the original in a way that made
perfect sense for this story and its characters. Scarlett and Gray were super cute together, and I really enjoyed his relationship with her grandmother Vivi too. The outings he planned for her every Saturday were fun, and it was sweet that he genuinely wanted to spend that time with her. As for Vivi herself, she was quite an entertaining secondary character. Her use of modern slang made me laugh, as did her not-so-subtle matchmaking efforts.
Overall, I loved "Scarlett and the Big Bad Billionaire" and highly recommend it for all contemporary romance and romantic comedy fans. It's definitely one of my favorite books of the series. I look forward to whatever Tru Taylor writes next!
*Review copy provided by the author/publisher via Give Me Books Promotions. All opinions expressed are my own.
About "Scarlett and the Big Bad Billionaire"
In my expert opinion, every woman who’s been left at the altar should follow up that singularly humiliating experience by spending a week in paradise with a totally inappropriate—and totally sexy—stranger.
Even better if you meet him at the bar of the resort hotel where your destination wedding and honeymoon were supposed to take place.
Even even better if he’s hot and jacked and there are no names exchanged and zero chance of ever seeing him again afterward.
One week of no-holds-barred sex, sun, rum, and fun and your broken heart is on the road to recovery— or at least approaching the on-ramp.
Of course, the key to pulling off this surefire heartbreak cure is to make sure you don’t fall for him during that amazing week during which you lived out every sexual fantasy you’ve ever had.
And whatever you do, don’t run into your non-honeymoon fling three years later—at your matchmaking grandma’s house.
SCARLETT AND THE BIG BAD BILLIONAIRE is a hot small-town rom com take on Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. It’s a standalone enemies to lovers, mistaken identity, jilted bride romantic comedy filled with heart, heat, and billionaire romance fun!
Read an Excerpt from "Scarlett and the Big Bad Billionaire"
Scarlett
Someone was shining a flashlight into my eyes. A strong one.
The red glow boring through my eyelids hurt—everything hurt, actually. My head felt like it had a heartbeat, and my body weighed at least six hundred pounds.
Cracking my eyelids, I determined the source of the irritating light wasn’t a flashlight but an opening in the hotel room curtains. Hot morning sun streamed in, landing on my face and interrupting a heavy sleep marked by strange dreams of a wedding that never happened and a man who wasn’t my groom spending the night.
I sat up abruptly, causing my brain to slosh in my oversensitive skull and turning my stomach.
It hadn’t been a dream.
The wedding had been called off—and there had been a man. But apparently he hadn’t (thank God) spent the night. Except for the spot where I’d slept, the bed was empty and still neatly tucked.
Looking around the room, I saw no sign of the disconcertingly hot guy from last night.
I had vague memories of vivid green eyes and white teeth that had gleamed in a wolfish smile so charming I’d actually forgotten for whole minutes at a time that yesterday had been the worst day of my life.
But it had.
And this afternoon I’d get on a plane, go home to Minnesota, go back to work, and try my best to forget about the whole thing.
Ugh. I dreaded the looks of sympathy coming my way—or worse, the friends and co-workers who wouldn’t look at me, who’d find a way to be “busy” when I came into a room because they didn’t know what to do or say.
Oh well. What was the alternative? Stay here in the Greek islands and hide forever?
Not only could I not afford to do that, the prospect of going on my pre-paid tours and dining at beautiful seaside vistas alone was enough to get my pitiful hungover ass out of bed and moving toward my suitcase to start packing.
The sound of a toilet flushing made me jump. Were the walls of the hotel room that thin?
Wait—this was a bungalow. There were no shared walls through which you could hear a neighbor’s flushing. Which meant the sound—and the sound of running sink water that followed it—had come from this bungalow.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
A man had rounded the corner and was now standing—shirtless—in my room.
Not a man, the man. The one from last night.
He looked even better than I’d remembered, with dark, messy hair and a body so fit and muscular it would have made me drool—if I hadn’t been too dehydrated to produce saliva at the moment.
His eyes were arresting, and his face as a whole gave me serious young-John-Stamos vibes. Yes, I’d binge-watched every episode of Full House when I was younger—not sorry.
“I used one of the complimentary toothbrushes in there. Hope you don’t mind,” he said cheerfully. “I figured since Bryce wouldn’t be using it, it was fair game. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave any shirts, so whenever you’re feeling up to it, I’m gonna have to ask for that one back.”
I looked down at myself, only now noticing I was wearing an unfamiliar, and heavenly smelling—good God what was that amazing scent?—man’s t-shirt.
And not much else.
I pulled up the hem to check and confirmed that yes, I was still wearing the ridiculously expensive, crystal encrusted “bridal thong” Maddie had given me at my shower.
“Yes, they’re still on,” he said.
I looked back up at the grinning guy…. what was his name? Fox? No, that wasn’t it, though I’d heard it at some point last night and it was completely appropriate when it came to this guy.
Wolf. That’s what it was. Also appropriate, considering the look on his face as he stared at the place where I’d drawn up the shirt for a panty-check.
I dropped it and tugged the hem down in a futile attempt to cover more of my thighs.
“I know. I just… um… did we…?”
I’d never had to ask a question like this before, having never been roofied—or drugging myself to the point of oblivion as I apparently had last night.
“Did you… sleep over?”
His smile widened. “I did.”
My heart plummeted then fell further as he added, “But there was no sleeping involved.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments make my day! While I do not expect everyone to agree with my point of view, please note that I reserve the right to delete any nasty or uncharitable messages, as well as spam. Open discussion is welcome and appreciated, but personal attacks are not. Thanks for understanding and have a nice day. :-)