She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to claim her, no matter what it takes. I don’t care about the cost or consequence – she will be mine.Natalie… The only woman who makes me stop and think. My only obsession.Ever since she walked into my life,My world has been upside down. I’m one of the most powerful men in the city. But she controls my heart. My wealth is worthless if I don’t have her in my …
My wealth is worthless if I don’t have her in my arms.
Especially now that she’s in danger and desperately needs my help.
My enemy thinks she’s his to keep.
Little does he know that she’s been mine all along.
There was never a doubt…
I see her beyond just our business arrangement.
I see her soul.
I’ll go to any lengths to make sure she’s all mine.
Even if she has a secret that will change the course of my life forever.
Will I be able to claim her as my own and be the one true “daddy”?
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I was sorely disappointed in this book. Here’s why. (Be aware there are spoilers ahead.) I really had such high hopes for this story. It sounded like such an appealing plot: a self-made billionaire as a cast member on a reality show similar to Shark Tank, meets a former ballerina who has come to the show to pitch her charity business that helps impoverished young dancers. Who wouldn’t love that story? But no, my hopes were dashed. Two or three chapters in and I knew this book wasn’t going to make it to shore.
I found most of the characters to be rather flat. They were stereotypes of what I wanted them to be. They mostly said the right words for the situations they were placed in, but I couldn’t get excited about them, or satisfied by them. There was nothing unexpected or surprising, or original in them. There was also a little too much internal dialogue from the characters for my liking.
The hero, Ewan, successful billionaire/businessman, in mid-divorce: drinks heavily since his wife left after cheating on him; sleeps at his office to avoid the memories at home; grumpy, depressed and getting behind on his work. He starts to change for the better when he meets the heroine.
Natalie is the big-hearted but incredibly naïve heroine: former dancer; starts her own charity to help underprivileged young dancers; suffering from an obscure illness, she plucks at our heartstrings; she whispers self-affirmations to get herself through the day—“You can do this, Natalie!”
And the secretive, manipulative billionaire/champion of charities, Marcus: basically, he arrived with “Villain” branded on his forehead. Although the author tried to portray Natalie as a smart, strong, I-won’t-take-b.s. kind of woman, I was bewildered why she turned suddenly away from Ewan, and fell so quickly for Marcus. Marcus said disconcerting things to her practically from the start such as, when they appeared in front of the press, “next time don’t be scared to show more skin, maybe some cleavage.” Perv. Or the strange way he had of asking her to leave his place after sex because he just couldn’t handle sharing a bed with anyone. And she didn’t question it at all as he was shooing her out the door? Silly deluded girl.
Maybe it was that the story was just poorly told. Much of the dialogue they spoke was a little juvenile. “Do not worry yourself Natalie, I want to see where you live. I want to know who you really are. We are to be good friends, are we not?” The author has never met a contraction.
There were more than a couple of sections I had to re-read a few times to figure out what was meant. Sometimes I thought there were two different people writing this book. The story was fairly cohesive and mostly error-free for a chapter or two. But then it quickly devolved into a grammar and spelling crime-scene. At the end of the book, Natalie and Ewan nab their HEA and get married. The author gave us the entire wedding ceremony and vows, verbatim (all 11 kindle pages of it). The description included the final ceremonial admonishment from the officiant: “Those whom God has joined together, let no one put as under.” Oh my.
This is the first time I’ve read this author’s work. Having read this particular story, however, I don’t think I’ll try another. Sadly, I can only give the book 2 stars.