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Molyneux Sisters #3
Behind the Billionaire's Guarded Heart
Falling for her mysterious boss…
When Australian heiress April Molyneux is left brokenhearted, she looks for a new start in London. Determined to stand on her own two feet, she finds herself working for the reclusive yet sexy billionaire Hugh Bennell.
Hugh likes his life—and his emotions—uncomplicated, but meeting glamorous April changes everything. Hugh doesn't do relationships, and April wants to keep the independence she's worked so hard for. But with these sparks flying…resistance might be futile!
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2017
6 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 12, 2018
I liked this more than I expected. It was light and lovely and also very modern and interesting, how do we deal with clutter? How do we separate our online life from out real life? But mainly I liked the interaction between two flawed characters. The fact there was a lot of money floating around the edges of this didn't make it as artificial as I thought it would from the title. It almost seemed irrelevant and I was far more interested in the elements of themselves they were hiding from each other. This was a pretty interesting simple story and I liked the characters a lot. Would totally recommend this little story to keep you thinking while enjoying a little bit of happily ever after.
November 24, 2017
The titular billionaire has issues about his mother’s hoarding, issues that have led him to become very reclusive. He has a social circle but no friends. He speaks to his business associates in video conferences in which he’s careful to hide his face. He has zero presence on social media and no reporter or snoop has ever gotten a glimpse of his face. It’s not that he has enemies or doesn’t want charities to come knocking. He’s simply closed himself off from people due to his childhood shame about his mother’s compulsive behavior that led to a cluttered house filled with useless bric-a-brac and junk.
I’m of two minds about this story. While it was wonderful to see him crawl out of his shell, I couldn’t help but resent how he decides to get involved with the woman he employs to clean out his deceased mother’s debris-filled house. He tries to fend her off by playing the usual commitment-phobic card: He has sex but doesn’t do relationships. Then of course they wind up getting busy with each other.
When a woman sleeps around but refuses to be a wife or girlfriend, she gets called a tramp. I’m not slut-shaming here; it’s slut naming. I believe that a man should be equally branded with that label. Mr. Hugh Bennell is a slut, pure and simple, even if he and April don’t use such a word. But that’s fine. Presumably, the two of them can be involved without deeper emotions getting called into play.
It’s easy to see why mistakes like that could happen. April’s only ever had one real boyfriend: the man she married. She doesn’t know you can fall for a man and fall hard after only one week. (What, really?) Hugh thinks she can be used and dismissed just like all of his other sex partners. (Yeearrgh.)
But that’s what happens because April has a SECRET. When it comes out, Hugh is hurt, thinking that she’s just been slumming around with him. Funny, considering that their relationship would have wound to an end anyway once he’d gotten bored or his mother’s house had been cleared, whichever came first.
There is the inevitable reconciliation and this is where the novel partially redeems itself for me. April could have abandoned her attempts to find independence to come flying back into Hugh’s arms once he decides her past and deceptions aren’t as important as his feelings. But she sticks to her guns. Freedom from debt, being a working woman, living without rebounding from one man to another—this is of real importance to her. Character development first; boyfriend later.
So, in spite of the tired cliché of a female sleeping with her boss, this romantic novel manages to spring a pleasant surprise on this reader. Try it and see that romances can be proper fare for the discerning adult.
I’m of two minds about this story. While it was wonderful to see him crawl out of his shell, I couldn’t help but resent how he decides to get involved with the woman he employs to clean out his deceased mother’s debris-filled house. He tries to fend her off by playing the usual commitment-phobic card: He has sex but doesn’t do relationships. Then of course they wind up getting busy with each other.
When a woman sleeps around but refuses to be a wife or girlfriend, she gets called a tramp. I’m not slut-shaming here; it’s slut naming. I believe that a man should be equally branded with that label. Mr. Hugh Bennell is a slut, pure and simple, even if he and April don’t use such a word. But that’s fine. Presumably, the two of them can be involved without deeper emotions getting called into play.
It’s easy to see why mistakes like that could happen. April’s only ever had one real boyfriend: the man she married. She doesn’t know you can fall for a man and fall hard after only one week. (What, really?) Hugh thinks she can be used and dismissed just like all of his other sex partners. (Yeearrgh.)
But that’s what happens because April has a SECRET. When it comes out, Hugh is hurt, thinking that she’s just been slumming around with him. Funny, considering that their relationship would have wound to an end anyway once he’d gotten bored or his mother’s house had been cleared, whichever came first.
There is the inevitable reconciliation and this is where the novel partially redeems itself for me. April could have abandoned her attempts to find independence to come flying back into Hugh’s arms once he decides her past and deceptions aren’t as important as his feelings. But she sticks to her guns. Freedom from debt, being a working woman, living without rebounding from one man to another—this is of real importance to her. Character development first; boyfriend later.
So, in spite of the tired cliché of a female sleeping with her boss, this romantic novel manages to spring a pleasant surprise on this reader. Try it and see that romances can be proper fare for the discerning adult.
June 29, 2017
Behind the Billionaire's Guarded Heart is another wonderful romance by Leah Ashton. Whether you have been following the journey of the Molyneux sisters or are new to Ashton's work,you will not be disappointed. April is strong, complex and modern woman out to reinvent herself when she meets Hugh. The two are well matched and the setting, Hugh's house of hoard, makes for a fascinating backdrop. I was completely invested in this love story. The ending was true to Aprils character and I applaud Ashton once again pushing the boundaries of modern romance writing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews