Beauty and her Billionaire Beast: Volume 1 (Tall, Dark and Dangeous)

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Emma finds herself in Lousiana on the trail of solving her family's mystery and finding their lost treasure. While she has hit deadend after deadend, she refuses to give up. A chance encounter with a handsome stranger has her searching for a plantation called Indigo Pointe. It is not easy to find. But with a little help from the unseen, she discovers it hidden off the beaten path. He expects perfection 24/7 and despite being warned to stay away Phoebe is desperate, she needs money and lots of it to pay her fiancé hospital bills and so she's prepared to put up with just about anything. Now they had some hot, sexy times too that were full of passion and intensity to them that made it very engrossing. There was just more than the physicality there that just made those scenes so much deeper and more meaningful. It didn't that they made my pulse race, but I liked the fact that the emotion was in the forefront not the physical. There was just a good balance emotionally and physically. I loved their coming together because it made them closer. Heroine is engaged throughout her affair with the hero- though her fiancée is in coma in hospital and later dies.

What a brilliant, very adult, remake of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale this turned out to be - I loved it! It has all the elements of the classic tale but brought up to date with plenty of contemporary twists to keep the reader enthralled. It is the second book in the series but I haven’t read the first one - though I intend doing so asap - so I can confidently say that it works well as a standalone for anyone else who hasn’t read the earlier story. (I found out it is ‘The Billionaire’s Virgin’, just in case you’d also like to know). Phoebe on the other hands needs the job to pay bills for a fiancée who's been in coma for two years. She's been loyal to Charles.. until she meets Nero. Emma Teager has gone to Louisiana trying to find the plantation that her grandfather vaguely remembers from his childhood. She wants to solve the family mystery that he's told her about. Since I absolutely adored the first book in this series, I was super excited for this. And it wasn't disappointing.

Phoebe has issues of her own, you see, and because she can't quit her job for the aforementioned financial issues with her comatose fiance, she eventually realizes that although their issues differ markedly, both she and Nero are broken inside, and since Phoebe is the last to admit her own problems, she considers herself to be a fixer, and certainly comes to recognize Nero's problems. This story was more heartbreaking than I was expecting. We got a glimpse of Nero in the first book and I was really looking forward to his story. He came off as a moody, dominant man that was a bit mysterious. I wasn't really expecting him to be such a jerk. All he cared about was what he wanted and he expects everyone around him to comply. He's been through so many assistants that word has spread and no one wants to work for him despite the generous salary. Except Phoebe. Bottom line, this book wasn't for me. I'm sure many other people will read it and fall in love with these characters so I will still recommend it for anyone that's a fan of a very beastly Hero.

Beth Turner, a woman with an ethereal presence and divine compassion, hides her true nature behind a veil of shyness. Though she loves everyone around her with the fierce intensity of a deity, she struggles to assert herself in a world that values power and dominance above all else. As a surprise for her Opa’s one hundredth birthday, landscape architect Emma Treager heads for the swamps of Louisiana in search of answers to a family mystery he’s hinted at her whole life. She’s almost out of leads when she stumbles across the Indigo Pointe Plantation where mystery floats through the air like the ghosts of its former owners. More importantly, she might just have found an important clue. Phoebe has a fiancé that has been in a coma for 2 years and she needs funds fast to keep up with his care. Phoebe has had a bit of a sad upbringing. Her mom had her to replace her dead sister. Her father never wanted her. She leaves them when Charles came into her life. She was hoping this was a chance for her to live a life with Charles when he gets into an accident putting him in a coma. Now she needs to make money fast and her chance comes when she interviews with Nero.

Yes, this story is based on Beauty and the Beast, but you'd be hard pressed to identify it as such without the word "beast" in the title, since, in the fairy tale, the Beast is actually a beast, and the beast in this novel is just a man, albeit a demanding, obnoxious, rude, impatient, deeply troubled, angry, emotionally scarred and tortured man, who is also a beast to work for, Nero de Santis. Sadly, he hasn't the first clue as to how to deal with his issues, or even admit that he has issues, at least until the day that Phoebe Taylor, a 28-year-old British woman, shows up for an interview as his next victim in a long chain of failed personal assistants, some of the previous ones lasting less than a day in his presence and all of them fleeing his home/office in tears. A Muslim billionaire takes a risk on a Christian girl. A Christian girl who prays for love and meets a Muslim billionaire. Time builds love and a family. Complications follow. Is this love doomed or will their love prevail despite the pressure of religious differences? Phoebe is a giver but unfortunately she's been surrounded by takers and through her developing relationship with Nero we learn more about her, her past and her life with Charles. I like phoebe. At first she seemed to be the doormat you sometimes get in these books. Again, the author did a great job of making me understand where she was coming from. Yes, she had been emotionally controlled by her parents, but ultimately she took the action to move to New York to get away from that. She jumped to do Nero’s bidding at first (he was paying her after all) but she wasn’t doing it out of fear, or some inadequate feeling that she wasn’t worthy of standing up for herself. I loved that she jumped to it with a smile on her face just because she knew it made him mad. And it amused her. Score for Phoebe.

Hamza Abbas, the CEO of Alpha Rational, is a force of nature in the business world. As a Muslim billionaire, he navigates the treacherous waters of corporate politics with the skill and cunning of a seasoned warrior. But when he meets Beth, he realizes that there is more to life than just profit and power. It is an enthralling story, one where the very caring nature of Phoebe has an impact on the traumatised Nero. As secrets from the past are revealed, both have experienced tragedies in their lives which impact on their attitudes and behaviour. It is not a typical romance but is a delightful story that I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into and have no hesitation in highly recommending! The first scene that really got me and really made get this and enjoy it was the scene in her bedroom where Nero was trying to get her admit that she wanted. He pushed her, but in a very nice and caring way. It was clear that he cared about her. For first time in her life someone put her needs before their own, and in fact this was the first time that put someone else needs before his own. Usually he took what he wanted no questions asked and it would be all about him, but not in this instance with Phoebe. He was kind and caring during those moments with her, wanting show her pleasure without pressure. She never had that before. He helped her through and guided her in this pleasurable journey where she didn't have hide any longer. She could just let go and did in a big way.Nero hasn’t left his house in ten years—he demands the world come to him, and the world is only too happy to bend to the strong-willed billionaire. Ruthless, cold, and selfish, Nero wants for nothing and takes care of no one but himself. His last handful of assistants have left his house in tears, but the prim redhead applying for the job looks up to the task. Nero has spent his life shut within the walls he built, with no care to have more than a window to the outside world. But the fiery passion he senses beneath his reserved assistant’s exterior makes him want to break down the barriers he lives behind, and unleash the beast within. It was so sweet to watch them fall in love. I felt invested in them, felt the connection, and loved the heat when they were together. I hope the author brings more of this into her other books. If a character is damaged and lashes out I want to understand why. Not a guy who’s just and ass for the sake of it. Give me someone I can connect to and who I can see grow. She nailed it for me in this book. This is what I want in a book. When he ends up losing 10 assistants in a month, he is surprised when the prim and proper Phoebe applies for it. He is instantly intrigued by her.

Hero does kiss an escort which the heroine gets for him in frustration (though they resemble the heroine) To find answers, Emma can’t pass up the job that property owner Theo Lambert offers like an enchanted rose, despite his reputation of being a beast of a boss. As the two of them delve into the secrets of the past, Theo and Emma discover that finding clues are almost as much fun as finding each other. Phoebe needs the obscene amount of money that comes with being Nero’s personal assistant for one thing, and one thing only—to pay for the mounting hospital costs that her fiancee’s two-year coma continues to incur. She’s heard rumors that the de Santis beast is a force that cannot be tamed—but even she isn’t prepared to handle the smoldering intensity simmering beneath his hard shell of feral dominance. Nero is hiding something, something he is fighting with every step he takes. Yet he can’t help but stake his claim on this woman who has shaken up his life, and Phoebe can’t believe this animal of a man is the one person to ever look into her eyes and see her soul. Nero wants to keep her. He wants to devour her. And Phoebe just might let him.

Beauty and the Billionaire Beast: Destination Billionaire Romance is by Maria Hoagland. This series takes the reader to a variety of destinations. Each place is unique and interesting. The place makes the story more enchanting. There is enough spontaneity to the adventure that it isn’t predictable. This book takes place in Louisiana, near New Orleans. Nero is known as a brutal and ruthless employer but Phoebe need money to keep her comatosed finance up with the best of care. She will do anything and Nero is the man that will ask it.