Narrated by Eva Kaminsky
Breathless in Love is the first book in Bella Andre’s & Jennifer Skully’s new Maverick Billionaires series, telling the romantic tales of a group of self-made billionaires who grew up together in what, I gather, was a fairly rough neighbourhood.
Will Franconi has made his fortune importing luxury goods and selling them to the rich and famous. When Jeremy Newman writes to him after seeing Will’s car collection featured on a TV motoring show, Will arranges to give Jeremy a personal tour. Based on the letter he received, Will expects Jeremy to be about eight, and is surprised to find a young man of 18 instead. Jeremy suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car at age seven. He was left with an intellectual disability as a result. Jeremy’s older sister Harper takes care of him (their parents were killed in a plane crash some years after Jeremy’s accident). She loves Jeremy dearly and is very protective of him. She hasn’t had any success in the romance department – some guys want to pack Jeremy off to an institution and others have their eyes on the trust fund which was set up for Jeremy’s care following the accident.
Will is immediately smitten with Harper but knows, because of his murky past which involved petty crime and a gang, that he is not good enough for her. Still, he ends up pursuing her anyway because reasons.
Will is always kind to Jeremy and they connect as well. Pretty soon, the two men are working on a project together building a kit car. While it wasn’t the main reason, the happy result is that Will gets to spend more time with Harper during the project.
Will does actually do some work during the book, but he is one of those billionaires who inexplicably has a low workload and tons of money. He is somewhat inconsistently drawn; he values economy but has made his living off luxury – and when he wants something for himself, he doesn’t skimp. He has a big house in San Francisco, a penthouse flat in London, a place in Paris, another in Sicily and a chalet in Switzerland (oh come on now! *eyeroll*) Even though he is rolling in money and, supposedly, is intimately involved with all the details of his company, he nevertheless manages to leave at five o’clock every night (!) and drive Jeremy home (after Will arranges for Jeremy to work in his mail room).
While Will does have a history of petty crime, by the time Harper meets him, he is practically perfect. He is universally nice – from the doorman, to the waitress to his friends and Jeremy – he always has a kind word. He even structures his business to share his wealth with everyone in the supply chain in a far more generous way than regular billionaires. He’s also gorgeous and good in bed. Of course.
Harper is also kind but alas, not rich. She doesn’t view looking after Jeremy as a sacrifice or a chore (although she does regard it as a kind of sacred duty) and she does not resent him for the limitations his care puts on her life. At first she can’t understand why Will would want to be with her and is very suspicious of his motives but as the story progresses, his consistent goodness slowly convinces her.
The black moment when it came was predictable and a little annoying but it was over quickly and satisfyingly resolved nonetheless.
The final chapter is basically the prologue of the next Maverick Billionaires book.
There is nothing particularly new to see here and I thought there were some inconsistencies and illogic in parts of the story. However, it’s also not super angsty and if a listener is in the mood for a fairy tale full of goodness and kindness, she could do worse.
Eva Kaminsky certainly helped. She reminds me a lot of Sophie Eastlake in her style (while they are not related as far as I know, they sound like they could be) and her voice is very pleasant to my ear. Some of the lines strained my credulity at times, but Ms. Kaminsky delivers them with a straightforward poise which did elevate the text somewhat.
I enjoyed how Ms. Kaminsky portrayed Jeremy. He is an exuberant young man with the intellectual capacity of a young boy – with a young boy’s enthusiasm and wonder at life.
There wasn’t a lot of differentiation in the way Ms. Kaminsky voiced the Mavericks; they did not feature in the book all that much, so, fortunately, this wasn’t a huge problem.
If a listener is in the market for an improbable billionaire romance, Breathless in Love certainly fits the bill. The narration is solidly enjoyable and, while the story is very much the fairy tale, it was nonetheless entertaining.
Kaetrin
Narration: B
Book Content: C
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence Rating: Minimal
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Breathless in Love was provided to AudioGals for a review.
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