Tag: Maddrey Elizabeth

Jenna and I have been friends since college.

Not besties or anything. Just the kind of friend you hit up when you want to go to a party but don’t want the pressure of a date.

She’s fun. Independent. And she gets me.

Which is probably why we dated for a while – more for fun than anything..

The kiss was completely out of left field. And so was the ridiculous pact to get married if we were still single in our thirties.

Neither of us have ever mentioned that pact again.

But man, a lot of years have passed and I can sometimes still feel her lips on mine. Now that she’s going to be renovating my house, it could definitely be a problem.

The whole pact thing might have been dumb, but would it really be such a bad idea for us to get together?

My Giveaway:

This is me keeping current with a billionaire romance series — who’d o’ thunk it?! Not me! And yet, here I am, devouring each book with bibliophile glee!

I’ve really bonded with this friend group and am anxious to see how wealth and romance pans out for each of the guys. Having said that, you could also read these books out of order and not feel like you’ve missed out on much. Well, a few happily ever afters and some lifestyle changes — but not enough to make a new to the series reader feel on the outside looking in if you were to pick up this fourth book first. (Gasp! I know there are a lot of ‘must read a series in order’ folks out there. My apologies.)

A real strength of this Billionaire Next Door series is the way the author works faith and ethics into each story. These were average guys who pooled their financial resources and made a ton of money, but, for the most part, life hasn’t changed significantly for any of them. Oh, they might enjoy a jet-setting moment or two (there’s this incredible date night in this one…all I can say is…eeeeppp) but basically, each of our billionaire heroes has to figure out how to manage their new found wealth…and they do that prayerfully, searching for the ways God is leading them.

In The Billionaire Backup, Noah, is grappling with feeling the need to make changes in both his professional and personal life, but not quite sure how. He’s finally made the plunge and bought a house and has given his long time friend, Jenna, carte blanche on restoring it (she’s an architect.) And Jenna just happens to be the girl from high school he made a ‘marriage pact’ with — if they are both unmarried by 33, they’ll just marry each other. Bwahahaha — guess who’s closing in on that magic number?

Love that these two have lots of positive friend zone history. They’ve been each other’s backup date to social events for years and now that they are spending way more time together things start to sizzle. Only there are complications. Like the guy Jenna has been dating — only, no worries, this is in no way a love triangle trope. And there’s Noah worrying about losing a good friend if things don’t work out. So, cue some angst, but not enough that you’d choke the stuffing out of your comfort bear from an anxiety induced death grip. 🙂 Just enough to make things v-e-r-y interesting.

And I’m happy to report that there are still unattached billionaires in need of romance so we don’t have to say ‘bye’ to these fan-favourite characters quite yet.

I listened to the audible edition expertly narrated by Joel Simler and Emma Faye and enjoyed their portrayal of these characters and their love story.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

ebook available to anyone, anywhere who has a .com (US) Kindle account

US — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada — paperback or ebook (via a gift card to Canadian Amazon) or audible (.ca)

If you would like a chance to win a copy The Billionaire Backup, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday September 23, 2023

Love might be a choice, but some choices are off limits.

They say opposites attract—and I’m not going to disagree. In fact, I’d be doing my best to see if the attraction was mutual if not for one little thing.

She’s my best friend’s little sister.

And since she and her brother are close, she’s become the honorary sister for all the guys in our group.

But I don’t see her as a sister.

At all.

She’s funny and smart.

And gorgeous.

But I don’t want to make it weird with the guys, so I figure I’m going to leave it be. And if enlisting her help to plan a fundraiser for my job is a convenient excuse to spend time alone with her? So what?

The only person I’m hurting is me.

My Review:

Who’d have thunk I’d be swooning over billionaires, but Elizabeth Maddrey’s ‘Billionaire Next Door’ series has me all atwitter. This is the third book and I love how connected they are through the characters but also how easy it would be to read any of the books in any order. So, if you haven’t dived into this series, fear not, Cody and Megan’s story is the perfect place to start.

These heroes are definitely not the bad boy billionaire archetype. They are regular guys who just happened to make some astute investments as a group that really paid off. Like really! I love how this series explores both the burdens and joys of wealth and how each hero strives to honour God with their prosperity.

And this time we have an….eeeeeeppppppp…..secret crush turned secret relationship that is all kinds of awesomesauce! Love the way it starts out with both Megan and Cody trying to squash down their feelings for one another. Megan’s been the tag along ‘little sister’ to her brother’s friends for years so it’s no wonder Cody is wrestling with his secret crush, while Megan is positive that he doesn’t see her as anything more than little sister material. It was fun being inside their heads as they mull over furtive longings and I was giddy with anticipation, waiting for the time when all would be revealed.

Maddrey is generous with providing page-time for all the recurring characters in this series. Love the depth in the relationships from light-hearted kidding to calling someone out for being a doofus. 🙂 And the steadfast support they provide to each other, even if they are at odds. These are the kind of characters I mourn over not being real people in my life.

And….another eeeepppppp….Megan owns a bookstore! A struggling indie bookstore that she’s not sure she’ll be able to keep open for much longer. Until some creative thinking turns everything around. There’s tons of interesting tidbits about books and publishing and even indie authors which was fun to read about.

And hoorah, there are still unattached billionaires in need of romance so there are going to be more books in this series and I can’t wait!

I listened to the audible edition of The Billionaire’s Secret Crush performed by Joel Simler and Emma Faye and I really enjoyed having two narrators — really brought Cody and Megan to life for me.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

ebook available to anyone, anywhere who has a .com Kindle account

US — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada — paperback or ebook (via a gift card to Canadian Amazon) or audible (.ca)

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Billionaire’s Secret Crush, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday June 24 , 2023.

You ever meet someone and have that immediate click? That was Kayla and me. First day of our first teaching jobs and we both just knew we were going to be best friends forever.

And we are.

She does a great job keeping me down to earth—a skill I appreciate even more now that I’m a billionaire.

Except lately, it’s like she’s pulling away.

It started with her spending more time with my sister instead of hanging out with me. And now she’s starting to date the youth pastor?

It could be that I’m a little jealous. Seems like everyone is falling in love except me. But I don’t think that’s it.

Because it feels like I’m in danger of losing a lot more than my best friend and I don’t know how to make it stop.

My Review:

So, I’m not exactly a fan of the billionaire trope. In fact the only other billionaire romance that I can recall reading is the first one in this series by the same author and I absolutely loved it. This one as well. So, really, how can I say I don’t like billionaire stories? I guess because I have (maybe had?) a preconceived notion of the sheer arrogance and entitlement and men-behaving-badly cliche, which, sadly, isn’t always a cliche. At least, not the billionaires who make the headlines. But Maddrey’s billionaires are anything but! They are more ‘the boy next door’ type — hence the clever series title, “The Billionaire Next Door.”

The series centres around ‘regular guy’ friends who just happened to make it big through their joint investments. Like billionaire big. But they’ve kept that on the down-low and have just gone about their lives like normal…more or less. Like Austin with his beat up old car and his math teacher career, palling around with his best friend, Kayla (and yes, she knows he’s a billionaire, but it doesn’t phase her because they have that bestie bond.) Kayla teaches computer science at the same school as Austin so these two spend a lot of time together — inside and outside of work.

I may not be a billionaire aficionado but I sure am when it comes to ‘best friends to more’ romances! Eeeeep — this one is fabulous! Maddrey captures the depth of the friendship, from serious heart to hearts to playful teasing…but, oy, what happens when the teasing turns to banter and the ‘love you like a friend’ vibe starts to morph into something more…well…more?! Sheer reading delight, that’s what!

There’s all that delicious tension as both Kayla and Austin wrestle with their growing feelings. Well, actually, Kayla has been crushing on Austin for some time now, but she’s not-so-cleverly kept it well hidden from him. Because when Austin begins to see Kayla in a new, more romantical light, he’s positive she has him firmly in the friend zone. Oh, the agony of watching these two sort out their feelings! Not without angst, but it’s not over the top and there might look like a hint of a love triangle developing but it really isn’t so do not fear (says the LT averse reader with great relief.)

One of the aspects that I really loved about this novel, is the way Austin’s billionaire status is addressed. All the pros and cons and unique struggles that come from wealth. I don’t want to say much more than that, because it’s a very strong plot element but I appreciated the deliberation that Austin placed on his financial stewardship in relation to his faith.

And, oh the emotions churning around in my gut the whole read through! Love when an author makes me feel my way through a story and Maddrey definitely did that!

I listened to the audible edition narrated by Emma Faye and Joel Simler — really enjoyed the dual narration and these performers captured the heart of these characters and their story perfectly.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

ebook available to anyone, anywhere with a .com kindle account

US — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice, or also audible (.ca)

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Billionaire’s Best Friend, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 20, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.