How to Blow It with a Billionaire

So, honestly, I am a fan of this series. I mean yeah, sometimes the sex descriptions are a little too, ahem, raw for me...like in a weird "that is too much anatomy" way for me. And in this book, Caspian was a little too I don't know, self-defeating, but also there are these things, wonderful things, that make it seem like there was assignment in comp 101 for twilight fan fic and you're an instructor grading and you're thinking, "holy shit this kid's got something," and you just read the FSOG series and gave E.L. James a D- because at least she strung some words and paragraph breaks together and let's be honest that whole tampon scene was disgustingly memorable. And also, you can tell the plan of these two was the same but that Alexis Hall isn't even hating on E.L. James's obviously inferior, painfully inferior work, and you know, you just know, that when he has Ellery mention that she want's to get away from a classic music festival before some sappy Debussy gets played it was obvious that this effort is neither separate nor self-conscious.

I think I've explained enough my feelings on FSOG in the first review And now I've gone so far afield on actually reviewing the book, but it's a middle book. It roughly follows the plan. There's despair in this book. Caspian's mystery and pathology is slowly revealed, so is his romance and his regard. Where he's different from Christian is that he's utterly, endearingly self-conscious and embarrassed discussing sex-related things. Not in the moment, that'd be annoying, but he's always blushing. So yeah, he's blushing dom. He's not a detached narcissist, quite the opposite, I'd argue.

However, Arden remains far more known, the novels are from his perspective, in his voice. He is innocent, yet wicked, and he knows his worth. He's transparent about feelings, but not enough to feel stupid or self-sacrificing. He's a great balance to the emotionally wounded and cut off Caspian, and the result is a great balance, where the protagonists express their vulnerability in opposite ways.

I really did laugh throughout this book, even though it was a bit darker than I recall the first being. I did want to dive headlong into the 3rd, but I can wait the 22 days until it releases. Or I'll have to anyway.

Note, there's a ton of sex. In the beginning it felt like it could be too much, especially considering that this book absolutely shines when the characters (any of them) interact. I didn't mind all the sex, but just throwing that out there...in case you do. 4.5 from me. ( )

I was really here for the first like 90% of the book. Arden still trying to figure out his post-college dreams and being with Caspian.

And then the end happened and like...what? It felt so out of place, so quick. I'm not really happy with it because it felt like it was just drumming up some major drama for the end of the book when it didn't really feel like it fit every single thing that had happened up to that point in two books. ( )

Great drama and romance. ( )

A reread in preparation for reading the final book in this trilogy for the first time. I enjoyed this more than I did the first time, I think. I was pretty much enthralled and sped right through it, sucked in by Arden's voice and curious about what is up with Caspian. I was also less annoyed at not getting Caspian's pov this time around. *shrug* Just proves that the right books can be read at not quite the right time, I guess. I'm jumping right into the third volume. ~Dec 2021

It took me a little while to get into this as I'll confess I didn't remember exactly all the ins and outs of the first book (if I'd had my copy of [How to Bang a Billionaire] to hand, I probably would have given it a quick reread before diving into this one, but alas), but once I settled into it I enjoyed it. Arden and Caspian continue to try to figure out their relationship and how/if it will work while having sexy times and frustrating miscommunications. As always, Hall makes me fall in love with his characters (Caspian's sister needs her own book, plox) and his sentences. If I had any quibble (other than the fact that, as the middle book in a trilogy all about the same couple, the end is nowhere near H, never mind EA) it's that I feel like a piece is missing in that we never get Caspian's point of view, especially given some revelations in this volume about his past. Looking forward to the final installment. ( )