REVIEW: Once Upon a Billionaire by Jessica Clare

In Once Upon a Billionaire (Billionaire Boys Club #4) by Jessica Clare, Griffin is a member of the royal family of Bellisime living in the USA, trying to distance himself from all that being royal entails. With the upcoming marriage of his cousin, Griffin’s presence in Bellisime is not only requested, it is expected. He can’t not go, especially for the cousin he has been close with. Griffin finds himself in a bind when his assistant gets sick and can’t travel with him. As independent as he thinks he is, Griffin knows he can’t manage without an assistant.

At the last minute, Griffin’s friend ‘lends’ him his assistant. In such a rush and a bit oblivious to the world around him, Griffin first sets eyes on Maylee in his plane, already en route to Bellisime. On how she looks alone, Griffin decides that Maylee is not what he wants in an assistant. To make matters worse, terrified of flying, Maylee does not make a good first impression on Griffin. Even as his body is saying Yes! his mind is racing, trying to figure out how to send Maylee home and manage on his own. She can’t possibly do the job he needs her to do and be who he needs her to be around his royal family.

As worried as she is about losing this lucrative job, Maylee is determined to prove her worth and that she is up to the job. She will just have to ignore the growing attraction between them…they are far too different to ever be together. As they spend more time together, this becomes impossible. Maylee has Griffin seeing life through a whole new lens, that money isn’t always the key to happiness, and sometimes you just can’t deny chemistry. Griffin is a bit of a social misfit though, and he’s not very good with people, Maylee included. He tries hard, but just can’t get things quite right or say the right things. Maylee is everything he thinks he shouldn’t want but he does. Maylee doesn’t feel like she fits into Griffin’s world at all, and he doesn’t do much to dispel this notion. Misunderstandings, that different world and all it entails are getting harder for Maylee to keep smiling through it all. Can they make it work, or will the complications of life with Griffin drive Maylee away for good?

Once Upon a Billionaire is an entertaining, modern day romance with strong characters who draw you in from the first page and keep you there to the last word. Maylee is an admirable, strong heroine. With her writing and character development of Maylee, Jessica gives us a heroine to love, admire, and root for. As Once Upon a Billionaire progresses, you really want Maylee to succeed. She has worked hard to get where she is today, she is loyal, open and honest. And she doesn’t give up. Maylee doesn’t have a pretentious bone in her body and is true to herself. I loved her! Griffin was more of a hero who grew on me. He’s a viscount and is much snobbier than he thinks he is! He is also not very nice to Maylee at times, even as he fights his attraction to her. I saw the most character growth in Griffin, as he matured and worked on his people skills. Griffin and Maylee can be very good for each other, especially when Griffin can see things through Maylee’s eyes.

There are some great secondary characters who add a lot of pizazz to Once Upon a Billionaire, some of whom I would love to know more about! Once Upon a Billionaire is part of a series but can definitely be read as a stand alone. You might have a better knowledge of some of the background characters if you’ve read the other books in the series, but it’s not necessary to enjoy Once Upon a Billionaire. My only confusion surrounded the occasional references to the boys club that Griffin is a part of with his billionaire friends. I didn’t really ‘get’ it, but once again that was a background issue that didn’t lessen the impact of Once Upon a Billionaire.

Once Upon a Billionaire is a very well paced, enchanting romance. Things get steamy, but the story is really all about the growth of relationships, how misconceptions can taint what you see, and opposites really do attract! Jessica’s writing flows smoothly and the story is well paced with lots of humor interwoven through out Once Upon a Billionaire.

I’d highly recommend Once Upon a Billionaire to any romance reader looking for a great escape into a humorous modern day fairy tale!

Book Info:

Published April 15th 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) | (Billionaire Boys Club #4)

The Billionaire Boys Club is a secret society of six men who have vowed success—at any cost. Not all of them are old money, but all of them are incredibly wealthy. They’re just not always as successful when it comes to love…

As a member of the royal family in a small European country, Griffin Verdi’s presence is requested at the wedding of the century. The scholarly billionaire feels out of his depth in social situations, so a good assistant is required—especially when dealing with royal etiquette.

Unfortunately for Griffin, he’s stuck with Maylee Meriweather, a pretty, charming, and thoroughly unsuitable woman who doesn’t know a thing about high society—but she sure can kiss. Her lack of polish may sink Griffin, because after all, even his money can’t buy class. But through Maylee’s eyes, he’s starting to appreciate the simple things in life—if simple means the most complicated woman he’s ever met.

Maylee is everything Griffin isn’t—and everything he wants—if he can let down his guard and step outside his sheltered world…