Ralou’s Review: The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica Lemmon

Posted February 27, 2017 by ralou in Blog Tour, Book Reviews, Collage, Giveaway, Interviews, Release day / 0 Comments

The Bastard Billionaire From the series: Billionaire Bad Boys #3
by Jessica Lemmon
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Pinterest
Published by Forever on February 28th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Military, Romance
Purchase links: Amazon, iTunes
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Source: Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley
four-half-stars

A BILLIONAIRE BAD BOYS NOVEL

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 . . .

We received this book/audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

Standing, she smoothed her hands down her pants and flipped her hair. She had planned to quietly finish her work and leave without seeing him again. No such luck. And no hiding that she was heading his way when her heels clicked along the concrete floor.

Well.

The kiss had happened. The button incident had happened. There was no taking it back. Regardless of how either of them felt about it, she was going to continue working here. So. She would deal with the here and now.

Since the sun was shining, Eli’s lair was welcome instead of foreboding. No fire cracked in the hearth today. Also unlike his usual, he wasn’t at his desk. He was at the printer.

“This yours?” He offered a sheet of paper.

“Yes.” She couldn’t keep from explaining. “Pressed the Print button by accident.”

“Mi printer es su printer.”

Isa accepted the document and Eli sank his hands into his jeans pockets, his forearms flexing with the movement.

“I wasn’t—”

“I shouldn’t—” they said at the same time.

He pursed his lips and she looked at her shoes. “Go ahead.” She was going to say, I wasn’t offended when you kissed me, but now that she’d had a millisecond to think it through, maybe she should pretend the kiss hadn’t happened. Which was . . . impossible. Standing this close to him, it’s all she could think about.

“I shouldn’t have ruined your shirt,” he said.

“I dared you to.”

“Why?” His eyebrows compressed along with his lips.

“Because you have accepted the role of beast, but I don’t believe that’s who you are.” She let her gaze linger on his face before tracking down his body. “And because I like a challenge.”

“Do you?” He took a wide step toward her.

She matched his move and took one step closer to him. “Yes. I don’t wilt easily.”

He threaded her hair between his fingers, a look of longing and hurt mingling in his eyes. “I was about to lie and say I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Shivers climbed her spine as she remembered how firm his lips felt against hers. “Maybe . . . you shouldn’t have stopped.”

Who is excited for an interview? Well, I DO! And, here in Collector of Book Boyfriends world, we are more than excited to welcoming the master mind behind these addicting men, The Cranes, and this amazing series. Check it out!

Thank you so much Jessica for your awesome answers!

Do you have a favorite scene from the series?

Several! If I had to pick a favorite scene from the entire series, I’m going to go with The Billionaire Bachelor. The trope in this one is a marriage of convenience and there is a whole conversation that happens when he proposes at the beginning that is pure gold. It makes me giggle every time.

Is there a specific mood you put yourself in every time you start writing one of the Cranes?

Ohh, great question! Each one was very different. For THE BILLIONAIRE BACHELOR (book 1) I was in ACHIEVEMENT mode, because Reese wants CEO more than he wants anything—he’s willing to marry someone to get it. For THE BILLIONIARE NEXT DOOR (book 2), I channeled my inner standup comedian. Tag is a playful guy and I wanted his book to be laugh-out-loud hilarious. For THE BASTARD BILLIONAIRE (book 3), it was about tapping into Eli’s deep, dark loss and unresolved sadness. And yet it wasn’t sad to write because Eli is half Reese/half Tag. That funny achiever is still buried under the gruffness.

What triggered you to come up with these incredible Crane men and their women?

The short version? My publisher asked for “billionaire bad boys” and the Crane men were born. The heroines were created to be the perfect foil for them. Each hero had a specific Achilles’ heel, and I created heroines who could target their weaknesses. Not so they could overtake them, but so that together they would be stronger. Every strong hero needs a strong woman by his side.

If Bad Boys Billionaires were to become movies, who would be the Dream Cast for each of your boys?

Reese: Henry Cavill

Tag: Brock O’Hurn

Eli: Clive Standen

What is the highest goal you want to reach as an author?

I look forward to accolades like New York Times bestseller, and USA Today bestseller, but the ultimate goal is having a loyal readership and a career that spans decades. I don’t want to do anything else for a living!

Book Review: 4.5 stars!!

You know that saying “Dog that barks, doesn’t bite”? Well, these 5 words summon who Elijah Crane is; a man angry with the world but deep inside soft as a marshmallow. Personally, one of the most intriguing combination 😉 But let’s take it from the start…

The Bastard Billionaire is the third and new addition in the Billionaire Bad Boys series. Or as I call it, The Cranes Overload series. This time, we get to learn all about Eli, the third Crane brother who was serving the country in the army and he’s now back home. But with one leg less and uncountable amounts of anger, guilt and sadness flowing through his blood. Which leads to the record-time quitting of another after another after ANOTHER assistant his family assigns to help him. And obviously, he has a very very different opinion about that. Although, soon enough, he will get to feel what it’s like to walk into your house your other half. And… put you in your place nice and easy before you could say anything.

She had a bark and a bit and wasn’t afraid to use either.

The chemistry existing between them and the blinding sparks happening every time they were in the same room left me hungry for more. And as time was passing and they were coming closer and closer, the wild, primal attraction that was surrounding them was growing with lighting speed into the truest form of love. But like any real couple, they had more than their fair share of ups and downs. There were times where the things would get completely out of hand and the challenge of fixing them up would turn out to be more than a bit …. challenging. Although, those were the moments when, more than anything, these two would prove both to everyone AND to each other that what they had was utterly real, deep and undoubtedly worth every obstacle.

His heart pounded so hard, he might never recover. He might never want to.

Both Eli and Isa are two of the most headstrong, stubborn and hard-working characters I have ever had the chance to meet. But, do not let the exterior foul you. Underneath all this thick skin they show, they hide the softest, overflowing with love capacity, sensitive hearts. They just needed each other so they could find the courage to let them open and finally feel what true love feels like. And how hard they fight not only to find themselves again, but also so their love can last forever is more than heart-warming and wonderful to witness.

What makes Billionaire Bad Boys one of the best series I have read isn’t the intense loves stories each book introduces. What makes it great is all its stories is about family. Neither of its three couples wouldn’t be where they are without the powerful family bonds supporting them. They may not play the same important role to each one, but that doesn’t change the fact that more than the half percent of the transformation the characters go through is happening when the family bonds intervene.

Jessica Lemmon never stops surprising me with how surprising unsurprising each of her books is. Each story casts its own special spell and never fails to claims a piece of my heart. Just like Every. Single. of their characters. I can’t recommend Jessica’s books enough. She is a real talent and the way her minds comes up with ways to maneuver each story is really amazing.