A secret kiss between rivals leads to a high-stakes marriage of convenience in this Blackout Billionaires novel by USA TODAY bestselling author Naima Simone. When a blackout hits Chicago, billionaire Darius King makes the most of being stranded in the dark at the city’s hottest gala of the season. But then the lights come back on, revealing the woman in his arms as the one he’d wanted security … security to escort out just moments before. He’s long had a beef with Isobel Hughes, his best friend’s widow, who squandered her late husband’s legacy. But their unexpected connection in the dark gives Darius a bright idea.
His new plan: entice her into marriage to protect his friend’s legacy and ensure the man’s young heir has a stable home. When Isobel balks, Darius won’t take no for an answer. But wild attraction and explosive secrets soon make their little arrangement very inconvenient…
From Harlequin Desire: Luxury, scandal, desire–welcome to the lives of the American elite.
Don’t miss a single Blackout Billionaires novel!
Book 1 — The Billionaire’s Bargain
Book 2 — Black Tie Billionaire
Book 3 — Blame It on the Billionaire
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Wow! What a powerful, emotion-packed debut with Harlequin Desire from author Naima Simone ! This enemies to lovers romance is so hot, you’ll need to fan yourself while reading. Darius and Isobel are a great couple, once they get past the lies and manipulations that set them against each other. Loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a steamy read with lots of juicy twists and turns.
A city wide blackout at a charity function and a resulting panic attack, leads Isobel & Gage to spend the night in a darkened hallway, discovering what make each other tick without revealing their identities. Sunrise brings a huge shock when Isobel realizes she just spent the night in the arms of her dead husband’s best friend. Can the passion they discovered survive the years of lies and hatred from her in-laws/his surrogate family?
Naima Simone hits it out of the ballpark with her latest contemporary romance. I couldn’t put it down – read entirely in one evening.
DNF – I’ve read and enjoyed other Naima Simone books, but this didn’t work for me at all. The set up was just too unbelievable that I couldn’t buy in to the situation Simone was creating. I don’t know how people who knew each other for years could be trapped in the dark together and start telling personal stories, huge stories that anyone in their “circle” would know but they don’t realize they know each other. Darius is telling stories about his best friend, Isobel’s dead husband, but happens to never use his name or tell a story she’s familiar with? Especially since he went toward that hall with the explicit purpose of seeking her out.
When they start kissing, it felt weird and creepy not romantic – so I gave up.
Chicago my kind of town. Billionaire Darius meets Isobel Hughes in the blackout unbeknown to him is the widow of his best friend Gage as he soon finds out when lights come back on. Isobel is a great comfort to Darius, during the blackout Darius has a panic attack from an event that he was traumatized by but with the help of Isobel he is able to get thru the event.
Isobel and Gage’s marriage was not a love story made to last. Isobel has been thru a lot with things being said and thought about her from widow husband Gage. Even though Gage is no longer alive Isobel is still shunned and blamed for his death. Isobel is need of financial assistance but her in-laws are not willing to help her with claims that her son is not their son’s child believing that she was unfaithful wife. Darius is like a brother to his best friend Gage’s family he sees Isobel thru the eyes of Gage’s family believing what he is being told.
Darius and Isobel make a great couple and have to get thru their past to find a happy ending.
This a great love story and is a first read by Naima Simone and I looking forward to reading book # 2 “Black Tie Billionaire” about Shay Neal and Gideon Knight.
I enjoyed reading this book so much! I couldn’t put it down! Naima Simone brought the heat in this book! I enjoyed the storyline and the chemistry between the couple! Such a fantastic book!
“The Billionaire’s Bargain” is Naima Simone’s debut with Harlequin Desire and it is fabulous.
Darius King’s main goal is to protect the family that took him in as a young boy. And if that means offering marriage to Isobel Hughes, his best friend’s widow, then that is what he’ll do.
Isobel wants nothing to do with the family that treated her as if she were beneath them. But she’ll do anything to protect her son and make sure he has the life he deserves.
Darius and Isobel will need to find a way beyond their pride and a past filled with twisted truths to find love and happiness.
“The Billionaire’s Bargain” is erotic and emotional and is everything one wants in a Harlequin Desire. This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Simone and it definitely will not be my last.
I’ve always loved the pen-woman-craft of Ms Simone, and this time with her Harlequin book, she has done it again! I loved this book. I loved the characters of both the heroine and the hero. They are both so well developed. And what else is developing is a joy to read (with a cold cloth or fan nearby) Oh my, scorching hot! A romance where the lies and deceit of the past can dissolve in the love of today.
In the dark, he kisses her…not knowing who she really is….
When a blackout hits Chicago, billionaire Darius King makes the most of it with an irresistible stranger. But then the lights reveal the woman in his arms is the woman he hates—his best friend’s widow! His new plan: entice her into marriage to protect his friend’s legacy. But wild attraction and explosive secrets could make that arrangement very inconvenient…
Naima Simone doesn’t disappoint with his new wonderful read. I could not put it down. Isobel and Darius are great together. What better is there then fiends to enemies to lover. Will truth come out during a act of god. I cannot wait for the next read.
Rated 4.5 Stars
I loved The Billionaire’s Bargain, the forbidden element to it, the secrets, lies, betrayal and the smoking hot sex scenes. I adored the premise of it also and the main characters, Isobel and Darius even though he annoyed me at times I still loved their journey. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Copy provided by author
Forbidden passion ignites under the guise of darkness! Naima Simone did NOT disappoint in her Harlequin Desire debut! With an exciting start to the story, she quickly reveals enough past drama to catch the reader’s attention from the very beginning, and holds it throughout with the relationship brewing between Darius and Isobel and also with the back story hanging over their head that we are dying to hear all about. The story was fast paced and packed with steam. Looking forward to more in the series!
Billionaire Darius King is less than pleased when a blackout hits Chicago and has him stuck in darkness in the middle of a party. When a delightful stranger takes his mind off of the discomfort, he doesn’t even try to fight the attraction that is flaring red hot between them. They might as well enjoys themselves while they pass the time right? Only when the lights come back on and he realizes just who it was that he was getting hot and heavy with, let’s just say he’s far from pleased!
When Isobel Hughes realizes it was her late husband’s best friend that enchanted her during the blackout, she knows he’s going to pitch a fit. He hates her and wants her far, far away from him and Gage’s family. When he verifies that she still has something that would benefit Gage’s family, he sets out to finagle his way under her skin so she’ll agree to marry him and let him control the access to her prized possession.
This was a great enemies to lovers romance and I love that type of storyline. I was hooked from the beginning on this book. Isobel is the widow of Darius’s best friend and he can’t stand her. He blames her for his friend dying and everything that went wrong in his friend’s life and how it affected his friend’s family. Of course there is an attraction between Darius and Isobel but they fight it because they can’t stand to be around each other. During a blackout Darius has a panic attack caused by a traumatic childhood event and Isobel comes across him in the dark and is able to help calm him down. Of course they don’t know who the stranger in the dark is and they don’t find out right away. Darius decides to help his friend’s family get close to their grandchild by basically giving Isobel and ultimatum- marry him and he will take care of her and her son. Isobel only wants what is best for her son so she agrees although begrudgingly. Darius soon learns things about Isobel that is at odds of what he was told about her from her deceased husband and his friend. During all of this they are becoming closer and starting to be a real family. I loved how Isobel always kept her son’s best interest at the top of her priorities even if it wasn’t what she necessarily wanted. Isobel was always herself and never played games. Darius was confused by his feelings because they seemed to contradict what he thought he should feel.
Basically this book was fabulous and everything I expected from Naima Simone. This book was sexy and a great enemies to lovers story. Definitely would recommend this book.
This was a very enjoyable enemies to lovers romance. The chemistry between Darius and Isobel is off the charts! Their story is filled with drama, emotional turmoil, secrets and lies. I felt so bad for Isobel and I liked Darius but I do wish he had done some things differently. All together though, I thought it was a really good read.
What a fantastic book from author Naima Simone! I LOVED this book so much! My heart sank…I got tears of heartbreak and tears of happiness! The Billionaire’s Bargain is a blackout storyline that dives into enemies to lovers and forbidden romance. Billionaire Darius King, has quite the proposition for Isobel, his best friend’s widow. Naima Simone has written a wonderful storyline, intriguing characters, and opened up this series with a huge grip on me! I am really looking forward to the next book about this blackout! 5-stars!!!
Wow!!!! That’s all I can say is wow!!!
There is so much emotional baggage and turmoil I this one. But the underlying theme throughout is that you must have trust between two people above all else or everything will fall apart.
I stayed up way too late to finish this one but it was so worth it!
I haven’t read a Harlequin Desire in quite some time, but I knew I had to see how this author would do it. I’m so glad I read it!
Isobel Hughes has had a very rough go. She fell in love at 20, to one of Chicago’s most eligible sons of the elite. Though his family never thought she was good enough, and cut them off, she was happy. For a while at least. But, her husband Gage was a spoiled boy who wasn’t prepared to be cut off from his family, and their money, and he came to resent her. He became her jailer. He was emotionally and verbally abusive, and he made up horrible lies about her to his family. He told them she was unfaithful, and was keeping him from them. They felt bad and snuck money to him, even though Isobel was the one working, and he was doing NOTHING. After their son Aiden came, she decided she wanted a divorce, but before they could get one, Gage died in a car accident. Isobel took her baby and fled to live with her aunt in California. But, after 2 years, she’s back in Chicago, and she needs help with funds. She would never ask anything of these people for herself, but for Aiden, she’ll do anything.
Darius King runs a successful corporation, and he doesn’t want for much. He was burned badly by his ex-wife, and he doesn’t have trust for many people. But his family died when he was a teenager, and his best friend Gage Wells’ family took him in as their own. He’s very protective of them, especially since Gage’s death 2 years ago. So, when at an exclusive party, he spies Gage’s widow, Isobel Hughes, he knows he needs to get rid of her before she can try to con them into anything. But, during a blackout at the mansion, Darius begins to have a panic attack, and a sweet angel helps him, and keeps him occupied the rest of the evening. They’re so attracted to each other, though they met in the pitch black, and when morning finally comes and they wake up to recognize each other, each of them are shocked and appalled. Who is Isobel really? His sweet angel in the dark? Or his dead best friend’s conniving gold-digger of a wife?
Darius and Isobel had massive chemistry, which was quite inconvenient for both of them. Neither was interested in having anything to do with the other, until they both realized they didn’t really have a choice. Darius feels a responsibility once he realizes that Aiden is actually Gage’s son. He wants to take care of him and insure he has a relationship with Gage’s parents and sister, even if it means marrying Isobel. Isobel is afraid that the Wellses will try to take Aiden from her, with Darius’ help, if she doesn’t agree to this sham marriage. It would solve all her financial problems, and Aiden would always be safe, but Isobel isn’t sure how she’ll fight her massive attraction to Darius, especially once they’re living together.
This reminded me of an old school contemporary in so many ways, but the sexy times were hotter. There are massive lies, manipulations, and misunderstandings between the main characters. There’s heartbreaking angst, and emotional turmoil, along with moments of such sweetness, and joy. You really felt so bad for everything Isobel had been through, and how thoroughly she was mistreated and abused. Gage’s family was a NIGHTMARE, and Darius didn’t do much of anything to shield Isobel from that at first, even though he claimed he would. He really screws up so badly, and I would’ve liked to see more groveling on his part. There is some, and what’s there is great. I just wish it had been a little more in depth.
This book made me feel so much, and I really am so glad I read it. This author is so consistently great, and I’ve loved everything I’ve read by her so far. I highly recommend her, and this book. I’m excited for the next book in the series. Who else was hanging out in the dark during the blackout? I guess we’ll be finding out!
I love this book. Naima Simone has you on a roller coaster straight to HEA. This is a must read book. You will not regret it.
I started reading Harlequins when I was taking college classes at night. I had some time between classes so I started reading category romance to pass the time. Just last year I discovered the awesome Naima Simone. The Billionaires Bargain is for me the best of both worlds, a category romance by Naima Simone, you can’t get any better. I loved the way the relationship between Darius and Isabella starts and develops and changes as the truth is told and trust forms. This is a must read.
I received a arc copy in exchange for a honest review.
This book with frustrate you, make you mad and steam up your kindle. Naima is the queen of slow burn and this book definitely burns so good.
Four and a half stars.
The Billionaire’s Bargain by Naima Simone is one whirlwind read. Billionaire Darius King and the lovely Isobel Hughes have one heck of a meet-cute when they literally stumble across one another in the pitch-black hallway during a ritzy ball in the middle of a Chicago blackout. When the lights come back on, both are stunned to discover that they’ve already met before–Isobel is the widow of Darius’s late best friend, Gage.
Naturally the path to true love is strewn with obstacles, but Isobel and Darius face more than most, including bitterly resentful family, protective instincts based in part on lies, and the need to make long-term decisions for the good of those in their care, not just to indulge in the incendiary chemistry they seem to share. And that temptation to simply indulge is very, VERY strong indeed.
Naima Simone’s characters feel real and well-fleshed out, and evoke the gamut of emotions, from joy and desire to fury and cruel disdain. The Billionaire’s Bargain will keep you turning the pages to see whether Darius and Isobel manage to make and keep a lasting bargain! And an extra nod to Ms Simone for some excellent dialogue, including an exchange that should warm the hearts of sci-fi fans everywhere 🙂
Can’t wait to read more from Ms Simone! Fortunately, this is just the first in the Blackout Billionaires series!