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The Billionaire Bum
A romantic comedy that will warm your heart and open your eyes.
Billionaire businessman Jackson Hayes finds himself in an awkward situation one night after making a crazy bet with his brother and business partner. Can he survive one week living like he’s homeless? What will he learn about life and love along the way?
Billionaire businessman Jackson Hayes finds himself in an awkward situation one night after making a crazy bet with his brother and business partner. Can he survive one week living like he’s homeless? What will he learn about life and love along the way?
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2010
About the author
Samantha Blair
10 books77 followersMs. Blair lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her loving husband and two cats. Her writing slows every fall with the start of the Steelers season before making an amazing rebound shortly after the Super Bowl. She has a full time career as a marketing director and website designer, but in her spare time she can frequently be found writing for the shear joy of it.
She and her husband enjoy traveling, camping, down-hill snow skiing, and reading post-apocalyptic fiction together. Taking hikes and wilderness survival classes are among their typical bonding activities.
An avid reader, Samantha devours about 250 books a year from all genres and time periods. Her favorite authors include Stephen King, Fannie Flagg, Stephenie Meyer, and Henry David Thoreau.
(from the author's website)
She and her husband enjoy traveling, camping, down-hill snow skiing, and reading post-apocalyptic fiction together. Taking hikes and wilderness survival classes are among their typical bonding activities.
An avid reader, Samantha devours about 250 books a year from all genres and time periods. Her favorite authors include Stephen King, Fannie Flagg, Stephenie Meyer, and Henry David Thoreau.
(from the author's website)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
October 22, 2012
I don't even know how to rate this book.
I was intrigued by the cover of course, and the description. I know following books because of its cover ain't wise, but damn! Most of the time good covers equal good books. Not this time though.
It wasn't that the book sucked, per se. It just wasn't really good.
Which may or may not be the same as sucked? Hmmm…
At the beginning and for about 40% of it or so, it was fine. It wasn't the best writing I've ever come across, but it was passable. Not a wow plot either, but it was making me giggle in its absurdness. It wasn't exactly believable you see.
Mainly it reminded me of my old fanfiction days. It still has a fanfiction feel to it, and though I am not sure from which fandom it is coming from I think I could gather some hints from thorough the story. It could probably use some serious editing, and maybe then it would be a much more enjoyable book.
I'm going to rate it 2 stars because it wasn't really good (and that might just be me being generous). I read fairly fast, yes, and it made me laugh and maybe swoon a little, yes. But I'm easy like that sometimes, and I can be won over rather fast by the right words. Yet the story lacked something. It wasn't believable, bordering absurd sometimes, actually. And while I pride myself on not overthinking when I read –I like to enjoy and forget the technical aspects of writing –after so many great books I've read this week, it was pretty hard to ignore.
I’m afraid I can’t really recommend it. Unless you’re up for fanfiction. It doesn’t seem like it was changed much other than the names. It was fluffy, a bit steamy here and there, and maybe overdone. I think that might be it, everything seemed so… forced. It wasn’t flowing naturally, and that’s hard to let go when you’re constantly thinking ‘are these people for real?’.
It was… readable. But isn’t almost everything? It mostly felt unreal, but I got the end, so I guess it’s worth more than just one little star.
I was intrigued by the cover of course, and the description. I know following books because of its cover ain't wise, but damn! Most of the time good covers equal good books. Not this time though.
It wasn't that the book sucked, per se. It just wasn't really good.
Which may or may not be the same as sucked? Hmmm…
At the beginning and for about 40% of it or so, it was fine. It wasn't the best writing I've ever come across, but it was passable. Not a wow plot either, but it was making me giggle in its absurdness. It wasn't exactly believable you see.
Mainly it reminded me of my old fanfiction days. It still has a fanfiction feel to it, and though I am not sure from which fandom it is coming from I think I could gather some hints from thorough the story. It could probably use some serious editing, and maybe then it would be a much more enjoyable book.
I'm going to rate it 2 stars because it wasn't really good (and that might just be me being generous). I read fairly fast, yes, and it made me laugh and maybe swoon a little, yes. But I'm easy like that sometimes, and I can be won over rather fast by the right words. Yet the story lacked something. It wasn't believable, bordering absurd sometimes, actually. And while I pride myself on not overthinking when I read –I like to enjoy and forget the technical aspects of writing –after so many great books I've read this week, it was pretty hard to ignore.
I’m afraid I can’t really recommend it. Unless you’re up for fanfiction. It doesn’t seem like it was changed much other than the names. It was fluffy, a bit steamy here and there, and maybe overdone. I think that might be it, everything seemed so… forced. It wasn’t flowing naturally, and that’s hard to let go when you’re constantly thinking ‘are these people for real?’.
It was… readable. But isn’t almost everything? It mostly felt unreal, but I got the end, so I guess it’s worth more than just one little star.
not-for-me
September 3, 2013See comments.
February 24, 2018
My favored genre is clean romance. I have read several “billionaire” romances with mixed results but decided to give this a try anyway because the premise was somewhat believable. I got my first turn-off very early when Jackson stumbles over a retired Vietnam vet who was sitting on the sidewalk. The first of many F-word expletives sprang from the page. I could, for the sake of reality, excuse vulgarity on the part of the vet, but Jackson was a highly educated, prominent member of society and had no excuse for such language. Ms. Blair seems fond of using the F-word, the S-word, along with vulgar terms for parts of the human anatomy, but she won no kudos from me. Nevertheless, I finished the book for the sake of writing a review. The swiftness by which Jackson and Alissa fall for each other is hard to fathom but is not uncommon. Still, it did not work well for me in this instance because Jackson had been portrayed as a pretty-boy player until he met Alissa, so the transition was all too swift. The bottom line is that Ms. Blair’s characterization did not motivate me in the least. But the straw that broke the camel’s back for this offering was the blatant lengthy pornographic scenes near the end of the book. I had to “fast forward” for page after page. Samantha Blair is not an author I wish to read in the future.
July 20, 2015
The Billionaire Bum
Genre: Romance/ Chick-Lit
Did I like it?: Yeah, it was enjoyable
Did I like all the characters?: I did
Ending: HEA
This book was enjoyable, I guess. I liked Jackson and Alissa. It was a unique idea, I just don't enjoy fan-fiction turned into books. Especially Twilight ones(I was once a die-hard Twilight fan in my teen days, sigh). I laughed a couple-a-time but it took a random twist and I thought maybe it'd be a short, sweet comedy story but it turned into like a mystery game which was unexpected.
I'd probably recommend to people wanting to pass the time even though it drags out a bit too loonnnnng.
June 19, 2016
Review to come.
June 21, 2017
A billionaire was challenged by his brother to live like a homeless for one week. And he have to start that very moment. I was intrigued and can't wait to follow Jackson and his journey of maybe, self discovery. One advantage that Jackson had, he was smart.
So, with only 70 dollar, the first thing he knew he should do was look for a job. There was two option; bartender or dish washer and he chose the former. Unfortunately, he needed his social security info which of course he left at his penthouse. And off we go alongside Jackson in getting a new social security. At the same time, Jackson had it in him to search for shelter and soup kitchen.
He managed so far, of course not knowing that his brother, Jason, had hired a bodyguard to trail him. So, when he got jump at the shelter, Jason want all bet off. But the problem is, for the first time in his life, Jackson felt something. He really wanted to prove to himself he could survived on his own.
As weird as it was, I understood why he wanted to do this homeless thing. Of course, it wasn’t at all like being a real homeless person. Homeless people didn’t have social graces embedded in them from an early age; they couldn’t charm their way into jobs. They didn’t have college educations. Most homeless people were also battling mental illness, illiteracy, a history of abuse, and a whole host of other things. Jackson still had an unfair advantage, but for him, this was a big step. I only hoped that he might learn to relax a little. He was so damn serious all the time, and I thought this experience might just teach him to not sweat the small stuff. – Jason
Jackson met Alissa on his second day of being homeless and struck by his look, they somehow befriended. I have to admit that apart from being smart, Jackson had everything going for him partly because of his look. Imagine Donald Trump being homeless. Would you invite him to your house the first chance you met him?
I had never been so confused. There was no Emily Post etiquette for how to deal with your new homeless friend whom you weren’t really sure was homeless and wanted to be more than a friend – maybe. What a mess. - Alissa
And by the second half of the book, I got bored. It wasn't interesting anymore. Jackson stopped being homeless when Alissa knew the truth about him and attacked by his business rival. And at this point, there was pov from mainly all the main characters that I was thinking, is this part of a series? Should I search for Jason's or David's story also?
All in all, I think Jackson got it easy. The few days he was homeless was fun though. I was seeing the world in a new light just like him. I don't know much about the ending because I was playing hooky by skipping most part but I'm sure it's HEA.
So, with only 70 dollar, the first thing he knew he should do was look for a job. There was two option; bartender or dish washer and he chose the former. Unfortunately, he needed his social security info which of course he left at his penthouse. And off we go alongside Jackson in getting a new social security. At the same time, Jackson had it in him to search for shelter and soup kitchen.
He managed so far, of course not knowing that his brother, Jason, had hired a bodyguard to trail him. So, when he got jump at the shelter, Jason want all bet off. But the problem is, for the first time in his life, Jackson felt something. He really wanted to prove to himself he could survived on his own.
As weird as it was, I understood why he wanted to do this homeless thing. Of course, it wasn’t at all like being a real homeless person. Homeless people didn’t have social graces embedded in them from an early age; they couldn’t charm their way into jobs. They didn’t have college educations. Most homeless people were also battling mental illness, illiteracy, a history of abuse, and a whole host of other things. Jackson still had an unfair advantage, but for him, this was a big step. I only hoped that he might learn to relax a little. He was so damn serious all the time, and I thought this experience might just teach him to not sweat the small stuff. – Jason
Jackson met Alissa on his second day of being homeless and struck by his look, they somehow befriended. I have to admit that apart from being smart, Jackson had everything going for him partly because of his look. Imagine Donald Trump being homeless. Would you invite him to your house the first chance you met him?
I had never been so confused. There was no Emily Post etiquette for how to deal with your new homeless friend whom you weren’t really sure was homeless and wanted to be more than a friend – maybe. What a mess. - Alissa
And by the second half of the book, I got bored. It wasn't interesting anymore. Jackson stopped being homeless when Alissa knew the truth about him and attacked by his business rival. And at this point, there was pov from mainly all the main characters that I was thinking, is this part of a series? Should I search for Jason's or David's story also?
All in all, I think Jackson got it easy. The few days he was homeless was fun though. I was seeing the world in a new light just like him. I don't know much about the ending because I was playing hooky by skipping most part but I'm sure it's HEA.
Read
June 14, 2017if only I can give it a negative rating.
some books should never be published, this falls into that category.
From the very first it's evident that it's a fanfiction. This author had written a fanfiction based on Twilight and later have published the book with the names changed.
Criticising this piece of so called Book is also hard.
With Multiple POV, and not so developed characters and their cringe worthy dialogues and Reactions., this is one book I wouldn't recommend anyone to read or to even have a glance
some books should never be published, this falls into that category.
From the very first it's evident that it's a fanfiction. This author had written a fanfiction based on Twilight and later have published the book with the names changed.
Criticising this piece of so called Book is also hard.
With Multiple POV, and not so developed characters and their cringe worthy dialogues and Reactions., this is one book I wouldn't recommend anyone to read or to even have a glance
January 24, 2013
Used to be a Twilight fanfic called The Billionaire Bum by Deavlynn aka TwilightDarkness82.
February 13, 2019
I've read this book multiple times and absolutely love it! I love the evolution of the characters throughout the book. Definitely a great weekend, airport or overall light reading.
January 21, 2013
I so wanted to give this more stars but I couldn't justify more than a three star. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun read but I got a little bit annoyed though that eveyone had a turn at their point of view, and I mean everyone - well actually I can't recall Alissa's dad having a spot but he is totally in the minority. I get why in some respects everyone had a POV but I thought it too much as some points of the story were gone over twice as we read each POV. I didn't feel the need to get into every character's head.
I also pondered the fact had they use protection when they finally 'hit the sack' together? Was it left to our imagination? Not sure on that particular point but I felt the lack of protective sex instantly and as it had been consented or discussed I found that a little odd of the author to not have it mentioned.
That said though, I did enjoy the premise, just wish it had been executed a little differently and then it would have a been a whole different ball game reader captivation wise.
I also pondered the fact had they use protection when they finally 'hit the sack' together? Was it left to our imagination? Not sure on that particular point but I felt the lack of protective sex instantly and as it had been consented or discussed I found that a little odd of the author to not have it mentioned.
That said though, I did enjoy the premise, just wish it had been executed a little differently and then it would have a been a whole different ball game reader captivation wise.
May 16, 2011
If you're looking for some distraction from the real world and the exausting working world, this could be the book. I work a lot during the week (and on some weekends) and every moment that I had left I was reading this story.
I don't want to give any spoilers from the book, but I pay more attention nowadays to the things I didn't know much about (it could be different here in Brazil, but the overview seems the same).
So, I really like it!
I don't want to give any spoilers from the book, but I pay more attention nowadays to the things I didn't know much about (it could be different here in Brazil, but the overview seems the same).
So, I really like it!
December 29, 2012
This book could have been so much more, but it lost steam in the story and the sex scenes could have been written way, way hotter. (After one sex scene they just turned over and went to sleep - I could get that at home!!)
One of the stars I'm dropping was purely for the fact that they didn't discuss birth control or (as they were strangers) use condoms.
What a shame, as the premise was good, the writing wasn't bad, it just didn't hit the mark for me.
One of the stars I'm dropping was purely for the fact that they didn't discuss birth control or (as they were strangers) use condoms.
What a shame, as the premise was good, the writing wasn't bad, it just didn't hit the mark for me.
March 29, 2015
I thought this might be a cute funny little story. It's mostly just awkward. Everyone literally has a point of view (though it's not needed to further the story). The 'love' stories in it are just creepy. I mean you want this feeling to last forever between you and someone you met 2 hrs ago? And the plot.....hardly exists. I rolled my eyes so many times during the final chapters Mr. Grey would have had a field day.....
October 10, 2017
This would have been such a good book if it had been clean the entire way through. The first 70 percent or so is written like a clean romantic comedy, and then the author puts in this stuff that felt like it belonged in another book entirely! Aside from that glaring problem, this was a hilarious book with a serious undertone, a man finding strengths he was unaware of, which allow him to mature into the man he could be.
July 4, 2011
I'm not sure where this would fall under... chick lit, romantic, adventure. Either way is was a fun and easy read. Good for a day at the beach or just relaxing at home. Not complex and the characters were pretty straight forward. I could see this turning into a feel good movie. Nothing that I would go on and on about, but it was entertaining for a couple of hours.
April 2, 2012
Finally finished this as I try and clean out my Kindle app. I think I got this book free or at a very low price and I am glad. The book started out with a very good storyline and then quickly turned into a very predictable plot. The characters were underdeveloped and I could not feel any true connection between them. I was not bored with this read but I am glad I am finished.
February 26, 2015
LOVED IT!
Jackson had me a all like
Jackson had me a all like
July 3, 2011
Summer chick-lit reading, nothing special, but also not so bad.
Read in a couple of hours
Read in a couple of hours
July 8, 2011
WOW so much better than I thought it would be. I love the likeable characters and was totally on the ride of the plot with them.
March 14, 2012
This was a light-hearted, fun read that went fast. Just what I needed at this time. There was no real depth to it, but sometimes those types of books are perfect.
May 18, 2012
The POV is a little different but it was a great read. It was fun and had me smiling all the way through.
September 14, 2012
great story! Great Laugh!
October 22, 2012
A fast paced all nighter read for me. Books like these are the reason why I love celebrity and rich stories. They're oh so fun fun fun to devour! LOL
Read
December 4, 2012I read this while it was still a Twilight FanFic under the same title. It has a very simple and predictable plot.
August 4, 2013
I know it was fiction but seriously?
March 1, 2014
i love the story.
June 11, 2014
Not a bad book , but nothing special to write about. A bit bland.
Read
August 25, 2014Wasn't quiet sure when i read all the reviews but i absolutely loved it i would love for there to be a second one, there stunt in the jungle :)
May 14, 2015
I loved this book it a short book but a very full story and the plot is excellent makes u swoon,think and laugh 4.5 stars
July 31, 2015
This book was cute short and funny, perfect for my taste. There were some major downsides but it was worth it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews