Monday, February 14, 2022

The Contract with the Billionaire: A Standalone Billionaire Romance Book 3: A Fake Marriage Series, by Anne-Marie Meyer (narrator not identified)

Anne-Marie Meyer, February 2022 (Contract with the Billionaire on YouTube)
 
Thinking she's going to interview for a personal assistant position with billionaire Reed Williamson, Lillian Brunette meets a distinguished older woman, and after a surprisingly brief interview, finds herself signing a contract. She's surprised, but she's in a tough spot. She's pregnant for the second time, after losing the first prematurely. When she announced she was pregnant for the second time, her husband, Joshua, divorced her. Expecting that this will also be a problem pregnancy, Lillian needs the comprehensive medical insurance the job offers, even more than the generous salary.

Reed has an entirely different problem. He's suffered his own painful breakup, his ex is now with his half-brother, and his grandfather has announced that if Reed doesn't get married, the half-brother (product of his father's affair, and not a pal at all), will inherit the company. As angry as he is about that, he's not the one who called an elite matchmaking agency to find him a contract wife. It was his mother who did that.

Lillian wasn't responding to that call. She was sent by someone else, who overheard something, didn't get all the information, and scheduled an interview for Lillian.

Since the contract contains terms that would leave Lillian, already scraping by, completely ruined if she backed out, and Reed is determined not to give up the company to his half-brother who has done nothing to build it, they both decide to go along with it. After all, neither one of them can get emotionally hurt again in a contract marriage, right? And neither wants another relationship anyway, since they've both decided they're just terrible at relationships and judging the opposite sex.

Lillian discovers the pleasures of a life that isn't struggling from bill to bill, but also the pleasures of being with a man who truly treats her with respect and kindness. Reed discovers the joy of a woman who really isn't interested in his money and is a bit embarrassed and intimidated by the places his sister Cassy takes her to shop. She went to a job interview hoping to be hired for a job with a good paycheck and excellent health benefits. Being even the fake fiancée of a billionaire, with a contract wedding in her future, until Reed's grandfather either dies or makes Reed the CEO of the company is disorienting. And Reed is, from her viewpoint, embarrassingly generous with his gifts to her. They are unexpectedly compatible, too.

But each believes the other will have no interest in a continued relationship once the contract terms are fulfilled and Reed is CEO of the company. It also hasn't occurred to Lillian that Joshua might hear about her engagement to a billionaire and discover a marvelous new interest in his ex-wife and their expected child.

Oh, and Lillian hasn't even told Reed about her pregnancy, figuring it will never be an issue because she expects to lose the baby.

There's some very emotional trouble coming their way.

It's a pleasant book, not a great one, but enjoyable. As is often the case in romances, half the plot would be eliminated if Lillian and Reed had a serious conversation about their histories, that didn't leave out the important facts. But where would be the fun in that, right?

Lightweight, but enjoyable.

I listened to this book for free on YouTube, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

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