Accidental Billionaire Plus-One

by Annika Martin

All I did was mail one of my sister's rejected wedding invitations to a stranger.
A notoriously private, famously grumpy billionaire stranger.
As a joke. Mostly. (I also sent one to Ryan Gosling. Don't ask.)
But then a helicopter nearly flattens the reception tent at my sister's Hamptons wedding, and out steps the billionaire—wearing a tux, a scowl, and carrying a gift.
What?
The bride’s side wants to know if he’s with the groom.
The groom’s side wants to know if he’s with the bride.
My sister absolutely cannot find out he’s here because of me!
So I intercept him and beg him to pretend he’s my plus-one.
And he says yes.
Not because he’s nice. The man lives alone on a yacht and reportedly hates everyone. He has his own reasons for wanting to fake-date a broke dance teacher—reasons he refuses to explain because he is the SURLIEST MAN ALIVE.
But four days of forced proximity is a long time.
Long enough to discover that beneath all that billionaire-grade hostility, he’s surprisingly good at protecting me when things fall apart.
The problem?
Fake dating him is starting to feel dangerously real.
And falling for the surliest man alive was definitely not part of the deal.

PERFECT FOR READERS WHO LOVE
Fake dating and grumpy/sunshine opposites attract
A broody billionaire recluse and the sunshine girl who cracks him open
Steamy romantic comedy with laugh-out-loud banter
Forced proximity on a superyacht and wedding-date shenanigans
For fans of Pippa Grant, Meghan Quinn, and Louise Bay

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fake Dating, Grumpy Sunshine, Forced Proximity, Contemporary Romance, Rom Com

378 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 18, 2026

About the author

Annika Martin is a NYT bestselling author who loves reading, taking pictures of her cats, consuming boatloads of chocolate suckers, and helping animals. She lives in the Twin Cities with her awesome husband and adorable cats.

Website: http://annikamartinbooks.com
Amazon books: https://amzn.to/2UIYzeA
Apple Books: https://apple.co/2PkneA7
Annika on Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/annik...
Instagram: instagram.com/annikamartinauthor
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2UH02SC
Google Play http://bit.ly/2UKJ45O
Nook: http://bit.ly/2Gt304m
Newsletter: https://geni.us/nwslettr

Reviews

[Gloria*The Cheeto Bandito* · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down for the ridiculousness that killed the ending for me

An amalgam of extremes: I loved certain things about this book and hated others, and the rating reflects that. Even so, there’s much more here to like than not.

The main characters were total opposites, but both were appealing. Kelsey is a performer, currently appearing as a dancer in a Broadway revival, and is perceived, by her family and past boyfriends, as “extra.” She’s expressive, vivacious, irreverent, outgoing, enthusiastic about everything but especially about cheeses, and utterly charming. Bruno is a reclusive, intense, methodical, and very grumpy watchmaker who is so skilled at exquisite, handmade, one-of-a-kind timepieces that he’s become a billionaire, refusing commissions from princes and celebrities who only want his watches for the cachet, not for the engineering.

Hated it 😤: first person present tense narration. Yep, precisely one week after vowing to never read another first person present tense book, I read one. My vows are meaningless.

Loved it ❤️: They meet because of a ridiculous plot point that would never happen in a million years, but it was fun and, while there was no insta-anything, the sparks flew as they tried to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement. The banter was stellar.

Hated it 😤: Kelsey’s dogged insistence that her estranged family was letting her “back in,” that they believed her innocent of the crime for which they had banished her and cut off all contact, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. Nothing but evidence to the contrary, in fact. I know she wanted to believe it, but at some point that kind of oblivious optimism starts to look like stupidity.

Loved it ❤️: Bruno’s cutthroat punishment of her nasty relatives with his croquet mallet.

Loved it ❤️: The spice was hot, but emotional instead of just porn-smutty.

Loved it ❤️: Kelsey’s anger at Bruno for assuming she could be bought and that he knew her price and made plans based on that assumption without asking her.

Hated it 😤: Kelsey’s anger at Bruno because she did have a price and he knew it and she fell in with his plans. She could have said no. Why get upset with him because she didn’t?

Loved it ❤️: Their time on the yacht, and especially their funkily glorious “anniversary” celebration. Special nod to “heart you chumpywumpy” banners, which ought to be available for purchase everywhere.

Loved it ❤️: He caved.

Hated it 😤: the lamest, stupidest, most incomprehensible reason for a mother to ever fake her own death and leave her three sons in the hands of a monster and his monstrous parents IN THE HOPES THEY WOULD BE SENT TO MILITARY SCHOOL. Here’s an idea: why not load your kids up in a car and take them to a town where your heinous in-laws don’t own everyone in it? For that matter, why not fake four deaths instead of just one? Push the car into the ocean with the doors wide open, and disappear into the New Mexican hills with your kids the way you did by yourself. Her story made no sense.

Hated it 😡 Repeat, hated, hated, hated it 😡: That old, overused, limp, tired trope of “I must hurt you to save you from the hurt I might cause you.” Bruno, you moron.

I stayed up until 3:15 to finish this book and I had a good time reading it. It would have been 4 or 4.5 stars if things had not taken a bad turn at the 87% mark.

[Kitty Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest in Annika Martin's hilarious billionaire series. I need to live in this apartment building because somehow every woman there ends up with a billionaire!

Loved this one and Bruno might be my favorite billionaire hero yet!

[Bookworm Express Kwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, I know this genre isn’t ever going to win a Noble Prize in Literature, but this series in particular sparks so much joy that it should be recognized somehow.
That’s why I honor it with a 5-stars rating, because books that make you all giddy, laugh out loud and, restore faith in billionaires and humanity should be celebrated more often.

I really liked it!

The tech specs:
- Dual perspective
- Fake dating
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Mood lifter (if your aesthetics are cranky-chic or boho-grump, you might want to read this book in private, because you won’t be able to maintain posture)
- Fun banter, smart and genuinely amusing
- Ninth in a series, but can be read as a standalone
- Open doors 🌶️🌶️ (if you prefer your romances behind closed doors, you could still very much enjoy the story by skipping some scenes - it’s story-focused, and not a book that have them banging at random every other paragraph)
- Makes your worries go away for a while

[Kathy Strobos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annika Martin does it again! Such a fun billionaire romantic comedy! I finished it in one day.

[Karen Denise Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accidental Billionaire Plus-One by Annika Martin was a nice little palate cleanser. It was quick, light, and had the rom-com vibes I was in the mood for. Unfortunately, while the setup was promising, the execution was a bit of a hot mess. Apparently, being a billionaire doesn’t guarantee a million-dollar story.

I liked Kelsey. She was upbeat, bouncy, and occasionally over-the-top, but that was part of her charm. She owned her personality, and it worked. Bruno, on the other hand, was her complete opposite: rigid, frustrating, and occasionally just plain annoying. Opposites attract, sure, but there’s a difference between broody and making me want to throw a personality transplant at a character.

Bruno’s shift in personality between the wedding and the yacht was awkward. It felt like someone flipped a switch and decided he needed to be dark and broody. Then came the attempts to soften him, which felt forced and unnatural. Character development apparently took a wrong turn somewhere and never bothered to check the map.

The banter between these two was fun at first, but it quickly started repeating itself. When I can practically predict the next exchange, the charm has officially overstayed its welcome. Cute banter is great, but even I have my limits.

I’m a fan of Ms. Martin’s work, so I went in with high hopes. I loved the beginning and the wedding setup, but the middle fell flat, the pacing was all over the place, and the ending was just plain weird. The saving grace? Both family issues were resolved, so at least somebody managed to tie up their loose ends.

Overall, this was an OK read. It had a fun premise and some entertaining moments, but the uneven character development, repetitive banter, and wonky pacing kept it from delivering. I wanted a fun, flirty rom-com, and while this one had its moments, it never quite pulled everything together.

Will I read more from Ms. Martin? Absolutely. My faith in her work remains intact. But this particular billionaire romance? It left me feeling like I got the bargain-bin version of a million-dollar fantasy. I'll happily take a chance on her next book, but Bruno can keep the yacht.

3 stars

.

[Elizabeth]

DNF at 37%.

My reasoning for stopping this read is somewhat niche. The author is writing stupid things about waltzing and it makes me mad.

The heroine is a professional dancer. But somehow she hates waltzing because it's rigid and "there’s zero room for improv or personality,"

That shows the author's ignorance and is incredibly annoying. No trained dancer would say any kind of dancing leaves "zero room" for creativity. Gag me. It's so dumb.

I love ballroom dancing. The traditional waltz is a lovely and easy dance that can look many different ways. There is also the Viennese waltz that can kill you and your partner and everyone around. I'm still regretting injuring my random partner. Sorry freshman! I didn't mean to step on your foot!

Yes, there were other annoying things like a mono-brain "family" or the heroine being a hot mess doormat type or the hero being an uptight non-communicator.

But, a professional dancer acting like the waltz is ick!?

I'm done.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

opposites attract

This was mostly a fun read. Absolutely loved Kelsey, she was so upbeat and natural. Bruno was the exact opposite, once he thawed out, ever so slowly, he started to see a new way of life. I enjoyed the banter between these two.

[Jane Gingersnaps · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to majorly suspend disbelief on the set up but once you do it is awesome. Top tier banter, great writing, definite LOL moments (which is incredibly rare for me to actually laugh out loud reading but I did probably 3x?), and really felt original/unique too.

[Laurren L · Rating 4 out of 5]

The banter is five stars! I laughed a lot. Overall, the storyline was four stars.

[TacoFan · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

This was equal parts cheesy and funny. Little bit dumb but that was okay. I liked it.

[Jiminy Cricket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that took a strange turn

Note: This will be a bizarrely long review for a fluff book because I have spoilers and FEELINGS

I really like Annika Martin’s writing. I am not a fan of romcoms, but for some reason (even with all the irritating silliness and obvious pandering for laughs) this author manages to present an emotionally realistic portrayal of her characters. So I pick her books up without second guessing myself.

In this one, the h (Kelsey) is a minor Broadway actress and dancer who has been, shunned? excommunicated? from her once loving family over something that’s not disclosed until mid book. Which is: her grandmother was a stage actress and dancer in Paris back in the day. Much like the h is now in NYC only more famous. Anyway granny had a tiara filled with real precious gemstones, from one of her seminal roles. It became a family heirloom. And our h, who felt an intense kinship with her late relative asked to wear it for an important performance event. According to her, she did, and then later she put it away (in what she thought was a safe place). It was stolen and she was implicated. She denied it, but nobody believed her. Especially when it came to light that the h was supposedly seen pawning off gemstones at a shop near her home in Midtown. The rat identified the h by the distinctive purple streak in her hair. Anyway, without any kind of grace or conversation (except for blame) her entire family (extended included) stopped talking to her en mass.

When we meet the h, she’s just been invited to her sister’s wedding, a sister she hasn’t spoken to in three years. It’s hella awkward. But Kelsey is just so pleased to be reinvited into the family fold that she doesn’t dwell on why, or even if she should be there.

While engaging in a pre-wedding, former childhood pastime with her sister (calligraphy, only this time for her sister‘s wedding invitations) the h decides to randomly do a TikTok trend where people send their wedding invitations to celebrities and/or important people, hoping, that because of the sheer number of invitations and communications these people get, they’ll send a free gift (to a stranger) as apology for non-attendance, without doing their due diligence.

Even though her extremely unfun sister sneers at the idea, Kelsey secretly takes a couple of her sisters dud invitations and sends one to Harry Styles, one to Ryan Gosling, and one to Bruno somebody (a very famous billionaire in NYC who’s known as an extraordinary creator of finely crafted, much sought after watches). He’s revolutionized the industry, but he’s a recluse according to the tabloids.

The h’s lame joke ends up rendezvousing with the Hs need to attend an uncancellable event. He’s trying to desperately avoid a family press obligation which could turn into a major shitshow, and financial catastrophe for his business. So he doesn’t just send the gift, he actually goes to this ‘nobody’s’ wedding for his own reasons. He has no problem coptering into the middle of the festivities, even though he knows zero guests, and even though his (basically omniscient) assistant is, completely aware of the h’s social media trend scam.

The first third 2/3 of this book is about the wedding, and getting to know Kelsey‘s horrible family (normal apathetic/spiteful horrible, not crazily evil horrible), Bruno‘s irritation and annoyance at being fawned over and how the h is being treated, and how they organically get closer and bond during the stress of attending wedding events where the h is still kind of a pariah.

But it was never really made clear how someone’s parents (h’s) could raise her lovingly for her entire life, and then accuse her of doing something heinous but white collar—stealing history and wealth from the family—and then cut her off without a word. I think those of us who’ve known people with addictions or mental health issues might be able to understand that kind of painful, but absolute refusal to be an enabler. But Kelsey is a successful Broadway actress (I mean, even without a headliner role, anyone who makes it to Broadway is undeniably successful), and she has great friends who would vouch for her stability, and she engages in charitable work with children. What I’m saying is, that even if you sort of believed somebody like that had committed theft against you, wouldn’t you still give them the benefit of the doubt? Or reason that the sum of the whole is greater than a single questionable part??? This family didn’t make any sense to me.

The scenes with the h/H learning each other and becoming closer was great. Their sexual chemistry felt a little rushed, but still extremely well written and very funny, (which is rare in this sub-genre, where authors think they’re making jokes but none of them land). And the book stayed strong even when Bruno needed to extend the charade after the wedding, Kelsey followed him to his yacht (where he lived full time), and that second segment was also pretty funny.

But ????pardon me??? if I thought the rest was supposed to be about Kelsey and her family dynamics. I mean, we knew from the start that Bruno also had major (but not dire) family issues, but Kelsey‘s took up 2/3s of the beginning! forgive me for assuming we were here for her.

Then the last 10% is exclusively about Kelsey, insisting that Bruno needed to find out where and why his mother faked her own death and left him and his brothers with their horrible father. Call me crazy, but I don’t think a child who’s abandoned by their parents (his mother was selfish and batshit, but his dad was just as bad) at age 7 has any obligation to seek out that mother for answers.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand that being abandoned as a young child is almost like being left in liminal space, where you will have this deep seated need to understand your origins, but will have also coped so long not knowing that you’re probably fine living with your coping mechanisms. So I get the h’s 3rd party curiosity. But for her to insist that his ‘hanging chad’ is a dealbreaker for her had me blinking at the gall. Her reasoning? A man will treat his gf like he treats his mom. Insanity 🤯. The insinuation that he had done his mother wrong by assuming her horrible (WHEN SHE WAS OBJECTIVELY WORSE THAN AN ABUSER), has to be the most egregious case of victim blaming I’ve ever heard in my life.

To repeat: The H’s mother faked her own death when he was 7 years old knowing his father was ABUSIVE, and that the man would shortly after send his 3 very young sons (H included) to military school, and would ofc retain sole custody/cruel control during the times they weren’t in school (holidays etc). The stress of a regimented environment and an abusive father turned the H into the rigid man he became. On coincidental? fated? school field trip he stumbled across his PRESUMED DROWNED mommy working the till at a gas station in New Mexico. And she never contacted her children, again.

It’s a classically absurd, classically romcom sort of setup. But the h guilting the H into making amends with a woman like that as the price of her love? Was 100% dark romance. WTF. I identified with this H a lot. And totally understood why he would want to live on a yacht when people, especially this h, are such assholes.

Anyway, all of this was sprung the last 10%, when I thought that the book would lightly circle back to whole stolen tiara thing. A little angst free punishment of Kelsey‘s fairweather family. A dab of justice porn. But nope, her family disappears after very drawn out wedding build up.

I ended up hating the h for her projections. Because clearly she needed to fix her own family shit and MYOB about his.

Also my Spidey senses were tingling about this literary choice. It felt very undercover feminist. Idk. It’s not overt. But there was a very “believe women, trust women,” (and all those stupid slogans) vibe. Validating the h’s selfish agenda, and giving the H’s mother a grace she didn’t deserve. I was cheering when Bruno broke up with Kelsey over that shit. She put him through a brutal day with his mother, and had all of her girlfriends were giving her the “amen sister” and the “he’s not worth it” treatment when he totally objectively was! She was the liability and the problem. The author, not seeing that was just misandry on the downlow.

As for the epilogue: normally a fun filled check in months later would be heartwarming to me. But given the theme of the book: the H’s solitude and isolation versus the h’s manic pixie socializing and extraversion, the ending felt like extrovert propaganda. There’s nothing wrong with being alone or enjoying quiet, and contrary to what the DSM/Big Psychiatry says, it’s not always a mental illness.

I mean, If all this H got from knowing the h was learning to loosen his unsustainable grip on his staff, occasionally socializing, and making a friend—like Theo—who’s like-minded, that would’ve been amazing. Astronomically good progress toward a well-rounded life, but turning his life into her life??? Super questionable…

In summary, I think the author underestimated the amount of time she would need to wrap up:

1. the reconstruction (and deconstruction) of relationships/motivations of two mothers’ dysfunctional behaviour towards their children

2. The reconciling all of the wrongs done to the main characters

3. A satisfying believable conclusion to a love story

The end was just weird, and the pacing was totally off. So three stars instead of four.

[Kim Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read an Annika Martin book in a while. The last one I read was the billionaire series. I had thought a couple years ago the last book in it was finished. I guess it wasn’t because halfway through this book, that series gets revisited because of the friends that Kelsey hangs out with. I recognized all of them and can vaguely remember their stories. This was a shock to me because then I thought maybe there were a few books I missed after the last billionaire story from her. I was pissed because I enjoyed that series a lot and found it frustrating how I never knew she continued it. Immediately after finishing this book I subscribed to her newsletter because I didn’t want to miss anything else that would come out of that series, plus any other books of hers I’ve overlooked. Then I think I found somewhere that this was book 9 in that billionaire series so then I thought ok, I missed several books since either book 5 or 6. I don’t remember the last one I read in it. I guess I have to go back and check out my past reviews. Anyway, this was a good story. I remember the other billionaire ones being better but I liked and enjoyed this one for what it was. Who would have thought the wedding invitation trend was a thing. I can see the appeal for the reasoning Kelsey did it but I didn’t actually think it could happen. This book made that a possibility but I would have to agree with her sister when she first mentions it. It feels like a very weird thing to do. I wouldn’t call it a loser thing like her sister did, but definitely weird. I can see someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends or family doing it but what would the reason be if not for just getting an expensive thing from a celebrity sent to you? In this case, Bruno gets the invitation and decides to not only send a gift, but to show up to the actual wedding. In a different world, having a billionaire show up to a wedding and then to eventually convince them into being your plus one would be amazing. In this case though, it wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart, it was for his own selfish reasons and to get out of a family thing. At first I thought he was being ridiculous and that he should just go to the family thing. When you find out later in the book the deep secret he was keeping from his brothers, you can kind of sympathize and see where he was coming from. At the same time you find yourself wondering how him making an appearance for a show would reveal secrets about the family that he would want to keep buried especially with the outcome. If every track was covered then there shouldn’t be a reason anything would come to the surface and that was what Bruno worried about. When he has to continue the plus one farce with Kelsey, you slowly start seeing him open up to her but not really. You knew he cared and wanted her but he still always kept her distant from him. He opened up like maybe 50% of the time. The thing holding him back from fully opening up to her was his family drama and what comes out of it. I enjoyed how Kelsey didn’t let things go easily and she fought for their relationship even when he pushed her away due to his own insecurities. It did seem hopeless for him for a while. He didn’t like noise, crowds, people or his loss of control. I liked the moments you see him unravel which gets more constant as the book continues and it was nice to see him not a statue or so controlled and poised all the time. He felt human and like he did have feelings which he tried burying all this time up until he couldn’t and just allowed himself to feel and live in the moment. The story itself was kind of slow but at the same time it wasn’t. I felt like the connection between Kelsey and Bruno took a while to come to terms and explode but you did feel the chemistry between them. It was just a matter of how long it took for Bruno to allow himself to want things and open up. This part of him took longer to show Kelsey. Even when they had sex for the first time, it felt controlled and like he was putting a watch together. It was detached but the sensuality was there. It wasn’t until around the 60% mark that the intimacy between Kelsey and him became more passionate and emotional. The reason I ended up not giving this the full 5 review is because I would have wanted Bruno to be more approachable and like everything wasn’t a bummer or a burden. I wanted a bit more personality from him. I felt like he was too rigid and on edge, robotic even and there were moments the book felt slow. Kelsey had her annoyances that bothered me. Otherwise, she had a good vibe and saw the good in Bruno but also had the wrong radar when it came to reading a room or the vibe of people, well maybe just her family. She wanted to believe that they wanted her at the wedding and were willing to let her back in after the estrangement. You can’t fault her for that especially after you find out the real reason they feel that way. I did appreciate her openness and ability to wear her heart on a string though. I didn’t see it at first but then when you witness how her family was acting towards her and the disconnect, except for her with them. Even when she starts falling for Bruno, she wasn’t afraid to let him know, whether that was with touch or their conversations. You can also see it in the way she wants a connection with anyone because that means something to her. She wants to get to know others and thrives on being social and having relationships. If Bruno wasn’t as closed off and the situation wasn’t what it turned out to be, it probably would have been a 5 rating.

[Jody Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annika Martin has a wonderful ability to pivot from laugh out loud funny prose to such emotional resonance that it makes a reader take a breath. Her abilities and surety as an author are in full effect in the latest charming addition to her Billionaires of Manhattan series.

Let's get the obvious out the way now: Billionaires? In this economy and reality? I hear you, I can only say I have an Annika Martin Exception where I am willing to handwave and enjoy the ride. It helps that these are not the same billionaires that have cluttered up our contemporary romances of late. No “billionaire veterinarian” or “billionaire nfl quarterback” here. Martin’s billionaires are as realistic as attractive, young-ish, non-evil billionaires can be. Bruno comes from family money and has expanded his fortune by inventing a process blah blah scientific that has great utility for the space program (but of course not military applications). And her billionaires are as cushioned and protected from the herd as real ones. Staff provide buffers and whatever whim crosses his mind in an instant, whether it’s a suite in a sold out hotel or a wardrobe of specific items in no time at all.

So Kelsey is a broadway dancer who has been estranged from her family for three years. Her sister reaches out to involve her in her wedding, and eager to speedrun back to their in-jokes and intimacy Kelsey sends some extra invites to celebrities and billionaires as a lark. One of the invites is to Bruno, who of course ignores it until he needs an ironclad excuse to be committed to something for the weekend. Their meet cute is a fantastic standoff where both of them need the other to fake it for an audience, while trying to figure out motivations and atvantages. Sidebar: Martin navigates the perils of keeping secrets from a reader in first person well here. Both Bruno and Kelsey have family issues they think about long before they tell each other (and the reader). There's a lot of "if my brothers knew the truth" or "I can't believe they think that of me" but it never crosses to feeling artificial.

Over the course of the wedding weekend these complete opposites find a lot to admire and respect in the other, almost against their will. It doesn't hurt at all that they have a rare and total attraction to each other, and the frank honesty of two people who think they are in a closed-end deal. What was supposed to be the "benefits" part of a fake date relationship turns into an extended relationship. While the wedding part of this book was delightful, I appreciate that Martin takes some time to unpack the way Kelsey might integrate a fantastically wealthy person into her normie existence, and the give and take needed to go from a life where all parameters are in Bruno's control to being there for another person. These two hit some hurdles and have some boundaries they need to navigate, but with the tender emotion and chemistry between them their HEA is never in doubt.

There is something deeply enjoyable about reading a book by an author who knows the job and can execute it well. A Martin book will nearly always hit, whether she's writing romcom, paranormal, or mafia. This whole series is fun, and I especially recommend this book. Particularly since my favorite Martin character is the snobby and dismissive Alexandru of the Immortal Boss series, and Bruno is as Alexandru-coded as a human can be.

Thank you to the author for an arc.

[Stormy ✿ (on vacation in the US of A) ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ “I felt like a ghost in that tent, pathetic and alone.
Until he came and pulled me into his arms. And I just fit there.”

📚 Tropes: Fake Dating, Opposites Attract
🌍 Setting: NYC; the Hamptons; yacht along the northeast coast

⌚️Bruno - 38-yrs old, a billionaire watchmaker, a recluse who shuns society and lives on a yacht, thinks joy is useless, and unknowingly suffers from extreme OCD tendencies to keep a strict order and control to his each day.

🩰 Kelsey - thirty-some-odd years old, teaches ballet to children and regularly performs in a big Broadway production. She has such a positive outlook on life. Full of happy energy, an open book to her every emotion and as Bruno described upon first meeting her, she was a walking, talking exclamation mark.

The story starts with Kelsey’s estranged sister reaching out to her after a 3-year silence to invite her to her wedding… and to ask Kelsey to help her write out the invitations. Kelsey was beside herself with joy that her family finally realized that she was indeed innocent of the theft that they had accused her of three years ago. She had missed her family greatly and couldn’t wait to be included in holidays and gatherings again.

In her deliriously hyper happy moment, she quietly sent a few invitations to a few billionaire strangers too. A Tik Tok trend that she had seen, where couples invite as many billionaires or celebrities as they can find addresses for to their wedding in hopes that assistants will auto-send presents without checking if you actually know the couple. Well… the invitation she sent to hottie Bruno turned out to be exactly what he needed. An engagement that he could use to avoid a meeting with his brothers.

So he arrives by helicopter to the wedding, Kelsey and Bruno meet, and they agree to fake dating for their own reasons. Plans change several times, tons of funny banter along the way, soon he is wishing he had people skills, she’s learning the importance of chosen family and doesn’t want their time to end either…and they slowly fall in love.

What I Liked:
🛥️ how quickly he picked up on how rotten her family was
🛥️ how protective he became of her at the wedding
🛥️ how observant he was of her likes and dislikes
🛥️ the anniversary party and Chumpywumpy
🛥️ their banter as they lied, trying to convince others they were dating
🛥️ how emotional the steamy scenes were vs. being just smut

What I Disliked:
👎🏼 it bordered on unbelievable with how nasty her family was to her
👎🏼 how often she reminds us that people tell her she’s ‘too much’ or ‘a lot’
👎🏼 his huge family secret that he was guarding to protect his brothers…. His mother’s thought process for her actions years ago was extremely flawed and would have been unforgivable were I her child.

📚 Standalone - Yes, I read this as a standalone and it was fine. Goodreads does not have this book marked as belonging to a series, but I do notice some of the character names in the Billionaire of Manhattan series as minor side characters in this book. But this can definitely be read as a standalone.

━ ━ ━ ━ ━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━ ━ ━ ━ ━

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always thought Annika Martin's humor was really funny. She and I just click that way. I spent the first 30% of this book LOLing. (That croquet scene was hilarious.) Kelsey's character was just genuinely adorable and every snarky comment she'd make was met with an equally sarcastic comment from Bruno.

So Kelsey is an actress and dancer on Broadway. She lives a life where her emotions are always at the surface. She embodies them—they're there on her face and in her posture, both consciously and unconsciously. People tell her she's “a lot”-- she's “extra”. Impulsively she sends an excess wedding invitation for her sister's wedding to a billionaire as a joke. In her wide-eyed naivete, she wants to believe that she was invited to this wedding because her family has forgiven her for the betrayal they unjustly accused her of, but that couldn't be further from the truth. As the wedding festivities begin a helicopter eases down on the lawn. Bruno emerges to everyone's surprise. Kelsey needs to cover her tracks so she pretends he is her plus-one, and Bruno needs an alibi for the weekend so he goes along with it.

Ordinarily Bruno is rigidly reclusive, but he came to the wedding as an excuse to escape some unwanted publicity. Playing Kelsey's boyfriend is a small trade-off, if it serves his purpose. But soon he sees how genuine and pure of heart she is, and how her family is playing her. It may not be his business, but he wants to protect her from their spite and vindictiveness, and he does a good job of it.

Bruno's alibi needs to be extended, so onto his yacht they go for a few more days. Although it's beyond Bruno's comfort zone to have her there, he and Kelsey continue their charade as a couple. It's awkward and stiff, but it's starting to feel more real than pretend. Can Bruno relax enough to embrace a relationship? Can Kelsey understand Bruno's hang-ups and help him to drop his guard? There's one more major hurdle they must overcome, and it's a doozy.

As always in her Billionaire books, Ms. Martin brings the heat, heart and humor to this story. Her characters always have depth and personality, their relationships are sincere, and the plots are always substantive and believable. This is without a doubt one of my favorite rom-com series, and at nine books I hope it's only the beginning.

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is a Broadway dancer, he is a strict clock maker. Grumpy-sunshine at its finest.

Kelsey goes to her sister's wedding preparations and does something. She sends invitation to celebrities, hoping they would send gifts, not checking whose wedding it is. She sends three; one to Ryan Gosling, one to Harry Styles, and one to the billioner clock maker, Bruno. I have no idea how Gosling and Styles react to the invitation, but Bruno has to get out of a family function, so he actually shows up along with his gift. They act like a couple to explain why he is there, and when journalists photograph them together, they have to keep the pretending going for a bit longer.

Until they actuallu fall for real, that is.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I loved how involved Bruno and Kelsey were in each other lives. Kelsey accidentally lost a valuable family heirloom, and her family belived that she stole it. When Kelsey received an invitation to her s
sister's wedding, she thought her family believed her, but Bruno heard them talking. Turns out the grandmother told them they had to invite Kelsey if they wanted to get her money after her death. Bruno not only heard it, but he told Kelsey about it, not letting her keep lying to herself about her family.

And Bruno. They told him his mother died when he was a kid, but he saw her alive. Believing she left willingly, he never looked for her, but Kelsey convinced him to do so, and Bruno learned that his father was extremely abusive and his mother had to leave. Upon her leaving, her sons were sent to military school, which meant they would grow up away from their abusive father. She told Bruno the whole story and Bruno forgave her, but he also saw a lot of his father in himself, so he left Kelsey, because he was scared he would turn completely into his father one day, hurting Kelsey the way his father hurt her mother.

Obviously they end up together because they are so ver in love and Bruno would \ could never be the same as his father.

I love Annika Martin's fun writing style. I had been a hot minute since I read her last, so this book was something I never knew I needed. If anyone is looking for a romantic comedy escape that will both make them fall in love and make them laugh out loud, Martin's billionaire romances sure are great options to check out.

[Eva ˖๋ ࣭ ⭑ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ‌ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️/5
So not my type of usual reading, but I’ve read a mafia book from this author a few months back that I absolutely LOVED. And even though I don’t usually like romcom too much I decided to give this one a chance and it was so good 🥹.
Before giving my review I must say that I’m really happy that the Kindle cover is this one and not that other one. Because I definitely would NOT have read it if I had seen it, it’s just horrendous 😀

Here we have extremely flawed characters: an utter optimistic who rather believe feelings and possibilities rather than truths and facts. And an extremely unlikable men who acted like everything and everyone was a waste of his precious time.
I’m not gonna lie the author had me in the first half and I just couldn’t, for the life of me, find things that I didn’t hate about the MMC. Truthfully I didn’t really hate him but he was REALLY unlikable at times. So much so that I just wanted to cuss him out for a while. He did show a lot of qualities rather fast, but boy was he someone you can easily hate at the beginning. But afterwards he was so deeply caring, affectionate, at times funny and passionate that you just warm up to him so fast.

As for the FMC she was such a good character! I guess thats because it’s so easy to find a bit of yourself in her. That overwhelming love she was just trying to shower everyone with, just to end up rejected by most of them, yeah can relate. She was so funny, lively, passionate and also incredibly strong and reliable.

They really were the opposite attracts kinda couple, because they couldn’t have been further away from each other on just about anything. But it worked so well that when you think about it you realize that it was kinda stupid that you thought, even just for a moment, that it wouldn’t work.

The plot was also really interesting, I didn’t see that secret coming. Truthfully I didn’t have an idea what it could have been before we were told.

Such an easy, funny and good read. If you want to have a good time don’t look further 🙂‍↕️

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars. I enjoyed my first read from this author. Not my usual kind of book, but I took heart from my GR friend Jody's lovely review. And she was right - it was well worth reading. Thank you Jody 😊 I didn't even realise it's a shiny brand new book, that I borrowed from KU on the day it was released! LOL Although it's part of a series, the author states the books can each stand alone, and this one was certainly fine as a standalone.

Yeah it's a billionaire romance, and I guess some of the tropes are pretty standard. But it didn't feel too cliched. I liked the MCs and found them both interesting. Kelsey is a dance teacher as well as a talented and charismatic chorus line dancer in Broadway musicals. I loved that. She was bright and fun and honest, and I believed in her character. Bruno, the 'grumpy billionaire' had the unusual occupation of watchmaker, something he was pretty much obsessed with. He wasn't the usual (boring) entrepreneur who met the mfc at the office workplace. Their story had a different and interesting arc.

The way they met seemed a bit silly, but no doubt it's a thing that does exist. No spoiler as it's in the blurb: You send a random invitation to your wedding or party to a random celeb, hoping they'll at least send a nice present. In this case, Bruno turned up in person though. It worked OK in the book for their meet-cute.

So there was a fake-dating situation, which suited both of them. And of course they realise there is more to the other than first meets the eye, and they eventually fall in love. I thought the author wrote the development of their relationship quite convincingly, and the story just carried me along to the HEA. It ended up as quite an enjoyable read. I will no doubt seek out some of the author's other books now, and read some more. Yay for a new-to-me author 😊

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

had me up until the end

There was an element of cheesiness to the story but overall it was cute and there were some really lovely moments. Some surprising moments from both characters that felt real and genuine and some great spicy scenes.

I was fairly engaged and thought it was just a cute little romance novel that I was mostly into up until She finally get him to reveal his secrets and then it all kinda goes off the rails. He never explains half of the secrets, and then when she pressures him into exploring the parts she does tell him about, it just feels forced and weird. The answers he receives are nonsensical, as are their reactions to it. And then as we all know we have to have the big moment we don’t know if they’re gonna make it as a couple and then the one that messed up has to redeem themselves. And I just found it painful. It was rushed, not sure why we were in such a hurry. And considering how badly he messed up, it was fixed way too easily. The resolution was just cheesy with overly polished soundbites, like the author wanted so badly to have the perfect ending all wrapped up with a bow that they just tried too hard.

I found Kelsie’s character to be relatable, except that when you would really think her insecurities would get the best of her, they just act like it’s not a big deal. Would really have liked to have seen her let those things affect her. I feel like the lack of an impact isn’t very realistic for her personal traumas. Never

Also, it says it’s a standalone and it’s not listed on Amazon as part of a series, but there are way too many characters that seem to have back stories that are never discussed that it’s difficult to even keep track of them. It’s giving a vibe that their stories are all talked about in previous books.

Bottom line it’s a cute little story but I found the end to be cheesy and a little forced.

[Jen (That's What I'm Talking About) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelsey has been estranged from her family for three years, ever since her mother told her to leave if Kelsey wouldn’t confess to a crime they found her guilty of, but she insists she didn’t commit. So when her sister reaches out asking for help addressing the invitations to her upcoming nuptials, Kelsey jumps at the chance to be welcomed back into the fold. Thinking her sister would laugh when Kelsey suggested sending a couple of rejected invites to famous people, Kelsey felt shame when her sister insists the TikTok gag was for losers.

Fast forward six months. Billionaire recluse Bruno needs an immediate and immovable event to get him out of a family obligation that he’s already said no to a dozen times. When his assistant tells him about the wedding invitation sent in hopes of receiving a nice gift, he decides to show up. Not wanting her sister to find out about the joke, Kelsey begs Bruno to be her pretend plus one, and he agrees knowing it will keep his brothers off his back.

Annika Martin is an auto-read author for me, and she delivers again with Accidental Billionaire Plus-One! I absolutely adored Kelsey and Bruno: sunshine and grumpy opposites, both scarred by family.

Despite the horrible treatment by those who are supposed to love her, Kelsey shines on. She has an incredible found family, and a satisfying, successful career. She marches to her own beat and makes no apologies. That said, she does hurt each time someone says she’s ”too much,” and she misses her family. Knowing Bruno isn’t a real date allows Kelsey to be true to herself and let her eccentric nature flow.

As someone who was often told I was “obnoxious“ or “too loud,” I related hard to Kelsey, trying to pretend words don’t hurt, and secretly wanting to be accepted as is. She has so much life and is kind and giving. I love that Bruno is drawn to that from the start.

On the other hand, Bruno maintains tight control over his every action and life. His mother died when he was seven, and his abusive father expected nothing short of perfection from his sons. Bruno doesn’t tolerate frivolity or spontaneity, yet he appreciates Kelsey’s quirks and wants her to flourish. The more time they spend together, the harder he falls for her. He is rigid but wants to change after she shows him how different life can be. Kelsey knows just how to push and when to pull back.

Accidental Billionaire Plus-One is pure joy and lots of emotion. It is sweet but sexy; silly but heartfelt; predictable but perfect. Nothing makes me laugh out loud and touch my heart like Martin’s storytelling.

My Rating: A-

Review copy provided by the author
Originally posted on That's What I'm Talking About

[Preet K · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review
Accidental Billionaire Plus One by Annika Martin
5/5 stars

I wanted to give a special shout out to this book and Ms. Annika Martin for breaking my reading slump and getting off of doom scrolling. My heart thanks you because my gal-pals and their billionaire beaus are exactly what I needed. Every book in this series gets better and better and I'm so thankful to see my favorite characters again and again.

BRUNO. Hello to the newest grumpy billionaire that couldn't be bothered until he met his love. I loved the banter he had with Kelsey and just how sweet and caring he was in all of his relationships. As a person who shows affection by noticing and doing things for his loved ones, this man was my favorite. I really enjoyed his relationship with his brothers too and it was just a sweet moment when they dropped and saw how their brother was falling in love.

Kelsey! I really enjoyed her optimism and what she was going through kinda mirrored my situation, so my heart went out to her. I loved her character and the way she got to shine. I love her spunk and her ability to keep going while her world was crumbling internally. I loved all of her relationships and she has someone that notices and fights for her too.

Full of romance, banter, friendships, and touching relationships of all kinds, this addition to the series is not one to miss!

This book is available now and grab it for a perfect summer read!

A huge thank you to @annikamartinauthor and her team for an eARC copy for review.

[Cassie Renais · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really fun and fluffy- sweet, broody, full of chemistry and sparkles. It had all my favourite elements of Annika's usual grumpy x sunshine billionaire romances, with solid plotting, great characterisation and believable conflicts to keep the path to love from being too easy and thus unsatisfying.

I was skeptical at different points about how she was going to pull off a believable reason for the billionaire crashing the wedding and the follow-up fake dating, but it was perfect. Similarly, the big heartbreaking climax right before the happy ending was also believable without having to turn a molehill into a mountain for the sake of drama. It was just a realistic human conflict motivated by disordered thinking that could be forgiven because it wasn't inexplicable assholery.

I could complain about similarities between this book and the others in the series, but that's kind of the point of reading them, isn't it? If Kelsey is a bit like Tabitha and Bruno is a bit like Theo, does it really matter?

Overall, a nice, easy read. Probably one of my favourites in this series, up there with Theo and Lizzie and Tabitha and Rex.

[Elizabeth Hubbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was such a love story, it developed well, and even though there was that dramatic misunderstanding/you've got to go, it made sense. Plus, and this is the part I was grateful for, the Billionaire - had a full staff, that he pays well, he's not some uber-rich guy living on his own, eating frozen pizzas, watching Netflix whens he's not at the hockey rink. I'd be willing to bet Gretzky had a staff for his home, his garageful of cars and his children. Bruno's also not the 'Millionaire next door' that drives his own car, whose family is trad and happy in suburbia. He pays for what he wants and he's got people pulling the strings. As it should be.
Bruno had a rough upbringing, so there are some triggers. His brothers want him in a documentary that he wants no part of. Enter Kelsey, she sends him, Ryan Gosling and Harry Styles an invite to her sister's wedding - hopefully to get a nice presents, or at least a congratulatory card for the happy couple. Then it gets good because Bruno does arrive, in a helicopter (See? Another employee) and it only gets better from there. Read on, let me know

[RateTheRomance · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPICE LEVEL: Rated R / 2-4 descriptive sex scenes
CONTENT WARNING: family estrangement, past death of parent, brief undetailed mention of past parental violence
FEELS: 2/5 - A bit of drama, but still a pretty light read.
POV: Dual - M/F - 1st Person

REVIEW: I freaking love Anika Martin's billionaire series (okay...except Return To Billionaire Sender which was lowkey awful). But every other book is absolutely stellar and Accidental Billionaire Plus One is a definite 5-STAR read!

This author and I have exactly the same kind of humor and I laugh out loud in each and every book. I love how the characters speak to each other like real (but quippy) people.

Accidental Billionaire Plus One is a fantastic opposites attract romance where the reader sees how these main characters fit together like puzzle pieces. She needs his dependable protectiveness and he needs her whimsy.

This story has sweetness and spice and complex family relationships. And like all of these books, the female friendships are fantastic and play a major role. I loved every page of it!

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great storyline

Kelsey has that happy very bubbly kind of personality She works hard at her job as a dancer on a broadway show and even harder as a dance teacher
She has been estranged from her family for years since they accused her of stealing the family jewels ( she is innocent)

Low & behold her sister reaches out and asked for her help with her up coming wedding
Poor Kelsey she’s waited for her family to come around and she jumps at the opportunity to see them
Part of helping her sister was to do calligraphy on the invites.
Kelsey suggests to her sister that the  latest trend is to send the left over wedding invitations to a celebrities or someone very wealthy and most likely you'll receive a really good gift

Well when a situation that reclusive billionaire watch maker didn't want to attend he decides to go to the wedding and when he meets Kelsey he immediately realizes that she is good and kind and her family leaves much to be desired
They decide after the wedding to see where their connection takes them which is difficult at first but they work it out

[Shelley C · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Fake Wedding Date Stars👰‍♀️🤵

Kelsey is living her best life in New York💃 She’s been estranged from her family for the past few years after a misunderstanding and suddenly she finds herself immersed in wedding preparations for her sister’s wedding. Kelsey being the person she is, invites a reclusive billionaire to the wedding (accidentally🙈).

Bruno is a reclusive billionaire watch maker and as such is not keen on being in the public eye…but for some reason everyone wants a piece of him and he’s not having it. When his assistant finds him the perfect even, to get out of attending something he doesn’t want to attend, he finds himself the plus one of Kelsey at her sister’s wedding😳

The banter between these two is great, with some family drama added in. I really enjoyed Kelsey and Bruno’s story and I’m quietly hoping we get to know Bruno’s brothers better in the future🤞 I received an advanced copy and willingly leave my honest review😍

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story where the grumpy billionaire falls for a sunshine dancer. I really liked meeting Bruno and Kelsey, plus Bruno's need to control his environment was unfortunately relatable. The humor was also on point. Even so, after the awesome meet cute, about halfway through it started to feel deja vu-ish, with elements of the MCs' characterizations and social circumstances reminding me too much of prior books. Side tangent, the whole subplot that Kelsey was framed for the theft of a priceless family heirloom was just kind of waved away once it served its purpose of bringing Bruno closer to Kelsey. That kind of betrayal plus not seeing the family grovel in apology was a bit of a letdown. Could have gone deeper there in some interesting ways. This was still an enjoyable escape and delightfully spicy read, even if some of the story beats did not feel framed in a fresh way or with a different twist. As always, YMMV.

[Dar · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two were a lot of fun, and they sparked off each other in the most wrong ways, you couldn’t help but want to see what happened next! Even with their attraction and chemistry, it played completely to their differences; hers zany, his stoic. Of course, they rubbed off on each other (pun intended!) and we got to see beneath what they presented to the world. They confided in each other, they protected each other, and they ended up hurting each other, because what they felt was so big.

Did his story make me cry, absolutely.
Did her realizing he wanted her back make me sob, undoubtedly.
Did seeing Smuckers make me fist-punch in happiness, do you even need to ask?

Kelsey and Bruno are complete opposites, but he needs her, and she needs him, and the HEA they are creating is what they both needed <3

[Piper Brintnall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I really like the author and have really enjoyed some of her past books. “The Billionaires Wake Up Call Girl” is one of my favorite books by this author. This book, however missed the mark for me. To be honest, I almost did not finish this book. I almost DNF this book at 30% of the way in, but gave it another shot and continued reading.

I felt like the main characters were missing chemistry. I felt like the plot was an odd one. I’m not even really sure what trope this book has. I really disliked the family dynamics and mystery surrounding Kelsey‘s family. And I really hated how the family mystery that has plagued Kelsey for so long had a really rushed, nondescript resolution.

I don’t know that I would recommend this book to anyone. It was an OK book, but I certainly wouldn’t reread it or really recommended to anyone.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Accidental Billionaire Plus-One — Annika Martin
⭐ 4 Stars
👀 Dual POV
💘 Fake Dating • Grumpy/Sunshine • Billionaire • Forced Proximity
🌶️ Open Door / Explicit

This was so much fun! I expected a fairly simple fake-dating romcom, but there was enough happening outside the romance to keep me genuinely interested. Kelsey was sunshine without being annoyingly quirky, and Bruno was grumpy, controlling, private, and just enough of an ass for me.

I loved their chemistry, but the quieter moments between them were probably my favorite. Their relationship actually developed alongside the spice instead of the sex taking over the story. Funny, sweet, well-written, and genuinely hard to put down. Solid 4 stars.