New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ruth Cardello returns with an irresistible series about sexy billionaires and the strong-willed women who tame them.Brett Westerly is his father’s golden child, but it’s come at a cost. As head of the family corporation, he throws himself into his work—hiding in his office is easier than confronting the reality of his broken family.After a bitter … broken family.
After a bitter divorce that split the family and divided loyalties, the wealthy Westerly matriarch offers an early inheritance to any grandchild who marries and invites the entire family to the wedding. Brett’s brother Spencer rashly gets engaged, and Brett knows it’s his duty to intervene. But he never imagined the unwelcome desire Spencer’s fiery fiancée would spark in him. Now the man who’s used to getting everything he could want has met the one woman he can’t have.
Ever since she was a girl, Alisha Coventry considered Spencer and his sister Rachelle the family she didn’t have. When Spencer asks for her help, Alisha has no problem becoming his fake fiancée—until she meets Spencer’s sexy older brother Brett. The chemistry between them is undeniable—forbidden—but as their relationship deepens, Brett is determined to have her.
Alisha only wanted to help the family make amends. Now she’s falling for the wrong Westerly.
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I’m one of those readers who like Prologues. It lets me know what’s in store for me, and if it doesn’t cut the mustard a few chapters in, I abandon the read.
Not so with the talented author Ruth Cardello’s strong, lovely story IN THE HEIR.
When we first meet eighty-year old Delinda Westerly, she doesn’t have much to celebrate on her birthday. Her opening monologue proves her legacy shows right away hers is one dysfunctional family, broken by divorce and treachery.
Together her advocate and friend Alessandro devise a way for her to, “Stop planting weeds, when you want a rose garden.”
And then the matchmaking magic begins. The cast of characters go a long way towards redemption and forgiveness of one another, and I was not only surprised at the outcomes of each player, but sighing happily.
I’m also not a reader who gives away delightful premises and plots. But I will say this: Ms. Cardello’s story reminds me of those stories written by Barbara Taylor Bradford, an author I adore, which is a huge plus for this fan. Ms. Cardello’s prose is eloquent, thought provoking, and entertaining.
And I’ve become a fan of Ms. Cardello’s as well.
If you’re into family sagas with a hint of historical dynasties and hot contemporary foundations to fill the bill, then In the Heir is highly recommended for you.
I loved this story and plan to explore more of this author’s work.
Five Stars.
Boring. And, how many times does the H have to make a comment about all the women he’s had?
DNF @ 20%. Audio borrowed via KU.
Some of the issue was the narrator. With the gigantic cast of characters and alternating POVs this book definitely would have benefited from dual narration or someone talented enough to give each character individual voices.
Maybe part of the problem was the fact that this was a spin-off and I didn’t read the 20 books leading up to this one. There were a LOT of characters being introduced and it felt like I was missing some back stories or something to fully understand the “stage” that was being set.
Basically the story is that one of the MC’s, Alisha, is engaged to long time friend, Spencer. They’re getting married to earn an inheritance from Grumpy Grandma (who acts pompous and judgemental but can’t understand why no one likes her). This is a weak and inconsistent plot. Grandma thinks most of her grandkids are worthless (she says this about and to them), yet she wants them not only to attend her family functions but fashions a convoluted reason to bequeath them tons of cash???
Brett is Spencer’s older brother who apparently stayed with dad after their parents divorced. (There’s a bunch of other siblings/cousins too but they aren’t that relevant other than to show how much Grandma despises all but Brett.). Brett’s internal musings supposedly share a caring/supportive brother while his outward communication is hostile.
Somehow, despite Alisha knowing Spencer since middle school she has never met Brett until she and Spencer are engaged. I don’t know. Again, thin plot here. What we do know is that Brett & Alisha are attracted to each other. Again, I don’t know why. He doesn’t trust that she’s not a gold digger and she finds him to be a pretentious jerk.
At this point, I’m done. I don’t enjoy the narrator and this story gets cookier by the minute.
Great read
Love Ruths awesome books! this one is a favorite….Read it you will love it! <3
2.5 stars
Over rated
I just didn’t feel the connection between the H/h.
Lately Ms. Cardello Series romance (think the Corisi’s) books has added family dynasty drama and boy does it work. In this new Westerly Billionaire series Delinda the Matriarch turns eighty years old and none of her grandchildren shows up to celebrate her. She blames their mother who divorce her son over twenty years ago. Brett one of the grandchild chose to stay with his father when his mother divorce the father and took the rest of his siblings with her. From this onset we can see how this can cause split in the family dynamic. Spencer one of the other brother decides to have a pretend fiancee so he collect his inheritance from his grandmother who will give out inheritance to the first grandchild who marries and invites her and the whole family. The minute Brett meets Spencer’s fiancee Alisha he is drawn to her and secretly covets her for himself. As the story unfolds secrets are reveal about the family that will split them even further apart and while this is happening Brett and Alisha are falling hard for each even-though his family is falling apart. A sweet read enjoyed.
I’m sorry I stopped reading this story at chapter 2 because it didn’t grab my interest.
Alisha and Brett
If you like romance and a family trying to reconnect, then thus is the book for you. Great characters and lots of love.
Wow! Secrets and lies and so much family dysfunction all lead to the start of this series. Spencer starts out engaged to Alisha in order to get his inheritance but Alisha cannot go through with it, especially after she meets Brett, his older brother. Brett is taken with her and he has never felt this way about a woman before. Definitely a great start to this series and I cannot wait to see where we go from here!
This is a quick, fun read. I always enjoy Ruth Cardello’s books. I move through them like eating chocolates!
Not sure what to say about this book except that, I was swept away by this story and taken on a wonderful ride of emotions. Brett Westerly is a billionaire without a life, work and success is all that concern him. Alisha Coventry is a strong, independent women who doesn’t take any bull from anyone. These two definitely see life differently but are able to open one anothers eyes to all the possibilities that life can have. This story is entrancing, sexy and filled with heart! I LOVED it!
Not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it
I start with this one story and ended reading all the serie. It’s entertaining, easy to read with a happy ending.
3.75 Stars!
This was my first experience with a Ruth Cardello novel and it turned out to be a pleasurable read. Though it started out slowly and took a moment to capture me, it eventually pulled me in to the Westerly family drama.
The Westerlys are a diverse bunch with a stern grandmother as the family matriarch and after announcing a stipulation to her grandchildren’s inheritance, truths come out, hearts are shattered and it eventually opens up the path for the family to slowly come back together.
Alisha and Brett are complete opposites but share an immediate connection; however, Brett feels that Alisha’s goodness is something he can’t ignore and needs in his life. Her presence just brings out the good in people despite the scarring of her upbringing. She’s moral, loyal, feisty, strong and kind and because of their bold meeting, she cracks his armor that causes him to rethink his life and his approach to siblings. With her help, he learns that what he thought was normal can be received as cold and condescending to others and he wants to change that.
Once I was able to immerse myself into this story, I really enjoyed everything about it. I look forward to watching the Westerly children find their happiness and the family as a whole repair what’s been broken.
This is the first in the Westerly Billionaires series. Delinda Westerly is the matriarch of a fractured family. When no one shows up to her 80th birthday, she devises a plan to heal all of the wounds in the family. She offers her grandchildren their inheritance early if they get married and invite all the members of the family. Spencer needs a money infusion into his business. He asks Alisha, his sister’s best friend, to marry him to get the money. Spencer introduces his fake fiancé to his brother Brett and the insta love begins. After a lot of family angst, which sets up the future books, Alisha and Brett get their HEA. I like the initial setup of the series, but I am not a fan of the insta-love trope. I am hoping that the future installments have more development of the relationships.
ARC for honest review with no compensation
In the Heir by Ruth Cardello and is book 1 in the new series Westerly Billionaire an what a way to start this new series.
When Delinda Westerly decides she has had enough of her family’s neglect and wants to bring them back together so she devises a plan to make that happen…give early inheritance to any who marry and invite the whole family to the wedding.
Brett is the oldest grandson and when his parents divorced Brett and Eric stayed with his father while Spencer, Rachelle and Nicolette went with their mother. Brett has been estranged from his mother and his brother and sisters for a long time but now that his grandmother has made this stupid plan to bring them all together again he is determined to help Spencer when he discovers that Spencer quickly got engaged to his sister’s best friend, Alisha and having a 6 month marriage contract would help to get his inheritance and help give his company a big push.
Little did his family know that Brett has been involved in their lives for a long time but always in the background until now and wants to make sure his brother gets the money he needs with the marriage so he invites Spencer to his office to convince him not to following his grandmother’s plan but Brett is not prepared for the spit fire who his is brother’s fiancé and mess him up inside.
Can Brett show Spencer this is not the way to get his inheritance and show Alisha that she was meant for him instead?? Will this be the start to mend this broken family???
Very good book. I have pre-ordered the next in the series
There are three lessons that my Grandmother taught me. A person is never too old to stop learning. It’s not enough to crave or receive love, you must give love in return and lead by example. She was a wise woman, who was not afraid to practice what she preached. Until the day she died, she led by example in all she did. Including owning up to her mistakes. I still miss her, but carry all she taught me within my heart. The Westerly clan could have used some of her wisdom.With In the Heir, Ms. Cardello lays the groundwork for rebuilding a broken family.The Westerlys are far from perfect. Anger and pride has set to destroying a prominent dynasty. Can forgiveness, restore the foundation before it topples completely? In The Heir is a story of romance, friendships and family, that is written and rooted in the most powerful emotion in the world. LOVE.