BOOK REVIEW (39): Snowed in with the Billionaire

BOOK REVIEW:

Snowed in with the Billionaire

Can’t believe I’m starting the review for Book 4 of my totally random 5-book Harlequin romance Christmas-themed challenge (phew. Mouthful there).

With my last review (book 3) I moved away from Harlequin’s sweeter category line to read a sexier Presents title. But now I’m back to the sweet, gooey stuff with another Caroline Anderson title (Ms. Anderson’s also the author of Book 2, Their Christmas Family Miracle). I enjoyed that book, so I was happily surprised when I recognized her name—yeah. Somehow I didn’t realize I picked up two books by Ms. Anderson. Haha.

But in the end I’m glad I did because Snowed in with the Billionaire was a great read! I was swept up from that first page—I’m also a sucked for the classic “snowed in” trope, though tbh it always helps that the H/h are lovable.

Because as the reader I’m also kinda “trapped” with these characters, and this sort of snowbound trope typically constricts plot to a short duration and there isn’t much, ohh I don’t know, travelling and episodic instances and whatnot, so the author really has to work hard to inject internal conflict in just the right doses. (I love drama—but I can only stand so much swooning, for instance).

Thankfully I didn’t want to kill hero, Sebastian Corder, and heroine Georgia/George/Georgie Pullman. They were an interesting couple with a long and even more interesting history.

By interesting I actually meant really humorous and cute and, out of all the couples I’ve read so far, I felt theirs the most realistic pairing. When they bantered, it felt so natural. Sure Sebastian was standoffish throughout most of the book—and he actually has a legitimate reason for the whole ‘my past is crap, so I’m gonna brood’ thing—and Georgia wasn’t this angelic, do-gooder AND the greatest part was that no one hated Christmas.

Usually with Christmas-themed stories, or at least the three stories I read so far, the H/h are divided in their opinion of Christmas. There has to be someone who is a cynical Grinch-Scrooge whose reason for hating Christmas links to a horrible past (and enter operant conditioning) and the other half of the couple has to woo the person over to the spirit of the season, which is all about giving and family and love, right?

But at best both Georgia and Sebastian enjoyed Christmas—it was more of a family problem and personal issues/internal conflict about where the H/h stood in regard to their family lives. For example, Georgia has a two year-old son, and as a single mother she has to put her kid first and she worries about that because she’s also saddled with a mortgage and all this other financial stuff…

And Sebastian is struggling with a 9 year-strong identity crisis that centers on his questionable birth circumstances and his journey to understanding how he defines family.

Lucky him! He chooses a pretty great gal and her little son. I’m a total sucker for kids—mostly book kids more than real kids (lol), but Josh was my favourite child so far. Out of the four books so far in this challenge, this toddler totally made me want to get started on having children. He’s too cute!

He softened up Sebastian and I sometimes wondered if I loved more scenes with Josh interacting with Sebastian versus the scenes between Georgia and Sebastian.

Only one thing I didn’t like and it was so close to the end that it sort of pissed me off because it felt totally annoying:

SPOILER!

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After the couple reconcile, Georgia divulges some (really dumb!) happy news. And here’s a quote (pg. 181):

She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘Yes, I better had. The first little Corder is due on the nineteenth of September.’

He went utterly still, and then he gave a shaky, incredulous laugh and hugged her tight. ‘Really? You’re having my baby?’

‘It would seem so. I did the test this morning. It was very faint, but it was positive.’

‘Wow.’ He laughed again. ‘I didn’t even think—that night, when I had the dream?’

‘When else? There was only the once.’

Okay. So only abstinence is 100% fool proof. I get it. But WHAT?!

What if Sebastian hadn’t come over to propose? What then? What if he just wanted to come clean and tell her his dark (really not-so dark, but sad) secret and then be off with his life and they just had remained friends…or acquaintances or whatever—what would Georgia have done?

And it’s only been like a week since they had sex. She’s already calculating that shit to the day. Man oh man! Talk about cutting me loose from disbelief heaven...oh vey.

Cue epilogue I would have not preferred after this bit of news. Seriously. That teensy part could have been excised and the epilogue could have just mentioned their marriage and latest addition the following Christmas.

But yes, other than that, this book is totally worth the read. And because that happens at the end, it might not even bother you to read another few pages of the epilogue.

Snowed in with the Billionaire will not disappoint with giving you a great couple, a cute romance, and a totally plausible internal conflict. So read it for all these great features. :)

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮.5

(4.5 stars)