Carolyn Crane

Breaking the Billionaire's Rules by Annika Martin

The cover drew me, but the characters made me want to stick around. Max and Mia are comedic gold. Martin kept me in stiches with her quick wit and wicked sense of humor. She's makes it hard not to love, a character that you so want to hate. The chemistry between Max and Mia is a character all it's own. From passionately volatile to temptation personified, these characters keep you on your toes and always craving more. Glad I took a chance on show more this delightful author. show less

Surprisingly intricate, good world-building filled with different powers than the norm. I loved inside Justine's neurotic head, something I understand since I used to have OCD. I actually agreed with her decisions and morality, and thank ALL THAT IS HOLY that she was not TSTL! I am SO proud of her and happy for myself that I found this story!

I loved that I only half-guessed what was going to happen next, and how several of the characters became something unexpected, in an even better way show more than I could have imagined. I am so excited to read on in this series and see where Justine and her friends go next.

There is magic, there is mental illness, there is (hot AF) romance and sex, there is a complex plot, and there are great characters. I totally recommend this book! show less

I had two major issues with this book.
First, the MC's behavior is entirely driven by lust at times.
There is this mysterious, dark, brooding guy she feels inexplicably attracted to but this attraction is way stronger than even the extreme life-mate setups one can find in a lot of PNR but there is no explanation, no justification for it. This guy does quite a few fucked up things to the MC but the lust repeatedly overrides all common sense. I would've been hard-pressed to come up with a show more believable set up to explain why the MC is so incredibly spineless in regards to this guy. I guess that's why the author didn't even try. It is supposed to be sexual tension, and it is, but it is constantly overshadowed by the things he did which mostly ruins it all for me.

My second issue is more unfortunate and was the reason for me to drop the book.
As soon as all the puzzle pieces were on the table it was incredibly obvious to me what was going on but nobody in the book could see it at all. It actually took me longer than it should have to realize. I got it 80% in and I expect many readers will figure it out even sooner. I guess that was fortunate in a way because that way I could enjoy an incredibly hot smut scene I otherwise would've missed.
All the tension of the book is built on this one mystery. Who is the bad guy. But not in a detective mystery sense. It's more a question of whom to ally with to be on the "right side".
The problem is that, for me, all the tension went out the window immediately after I figured it out.
And it's even worse because both sides a good. They are just being played against each other by a third party. So I can't even root for the MC to recognize the good side.
I personally hate it if I know more than the protagonists due to their bone-headedness.
It drives me crazy. I don't like knowing more than the MC even if it is a deliberate decision by the author to give the reader more information than the protagonists have.
And as I already said, there is nothing else beyond that one central question that holds any tension for me. Everything else is built on top of this one conflict. So it's not one flaw or a series of them that frustrated me so much I stopped reading. I just suddenly lost all interest after I figured it all out.
As I said, Unfortunate. show less

These are not subversive in any way and I usually hate billionaire books (there is no such thing as an ethical billionaire) but they’re so funny I just handwave everything.

This guy wrote a damn pick-up guide! And I still liked the book.

I will be in my trash can if you need me