Billionaire’s Island Temptation
Author: Rachael Stewart
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: D
What I’m Talking About:
Six months ago Jessie’s mom passed, and now Jessie is drifting. Her sister sends Jessie on an all-expenses paid month-long trip to a secluded, tropical vacation at Hannah’s boss’s home in an exclusive resort where she meets sexy Joel, someone she assumes is part of the home’s staff.
Joel is best friends with Hannah’s boss, Brendan, and has been living at his luxury home. After suffering loss over the past few years, Joel has filled his time with easy living and lots of flirting and women. Knowing Jessie is off-limits, Joel hangs around the resort to welcome her and maybe even flirt a bit.
I picked up Billionaire’s Island Temptation to fill one of the boxes in the 2023 Romance Reading Challenge. Although the story has a promising premise and start, I never connected with the characters. Each is in a dark place and recovering from hurt and lost, thinking a fling may be what is needed to fill the void. Yet from the start, Joel is just a tad too arrogant for my liking. He promises Brendan he’ll stay away from Jessie but then gets off on flirting and tempting her, hiding his true identity.
As the story progresses and the couple spends time together 24-7, they grow closer, but don’t share all that much. Joel haphazardly tosses around the word “love,” and it’s out of character and misplaced in the friendship-with-benefits relationship. Jessie is wishy-washy and immature, overreacting to every perceived mistreatment. Both would act like teens, stomping away and pouting. With that said, the author brings them back together very quickly, realizing they overreacted and making amends. However, it happened too often.
In the end, Billionaire’s Island Temptation did not work for me. I never liked the characters and felt their relationship was never fully developed.
My Rating: D
Jen
About the Book:
A summer fling…
Or something more?
Jessie Rose is shocked by the instant chemistry she feels when she meets billionaire Joel in Mustique. She’s come looking for an escape, and brooding Joel is very clear he’s not looking for anything permanent. But letting their guards down while exploring the island together, they can’t deny their fling is dangerously close to being a temptation they may not be able to walk away from…
Release Date: March 28, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Romance
Series: Billionaires for the Rose Sisters duet #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (large print), e-book
Book Source: NetGalley
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)