A Billionaire for Christmas

Billionaire Secrets, Book 3

By: Ainsley Booth

Narrated by: Anna Fox

Ten years ago, Marcus Dane left the tech world in his dust and joined the National Park Service. For the last decade, the world has ignored the park ranger-who-could-have-been-a-billionaire, but now an intrepid reporter has tracked him down. Worse, Poppy Lisowski has a theory about him which could blow his quiet life to smithereens. He needs to send her packing. But he’s already tumbled head-over-heels in insta-lust with her flippy ponytail and smart mouth…

©2020 Ainsley Booth (P)2020 Scribd, Inc.

D.O.A. - a big lump of Christmas coal

First: if you are at all interested, this novella is available in a three-novella collection.
Based on this novella, however, I wouldn’t recommend even the value-pack. This was a let down in every way. There was zero chemistry or energy in this story about a struggling reporter digging into IT, environmental, and political news stories and finding romance with a rich dude playing park ranger.
The summary teased comedy but Poppy’s “smart mouth” brought zero comedy or sass. I never got invested in either one of them. Thus, when the several sex scenes came, they were lackluster.

The blandness was compounded by the narration. Considering that both Marcus and Poppy had POVs, this novella was begging for dual or duet narration. Ms. Fox’s voicing for Marcus had zero heat and sounded the same as the other male voices.

For me, the cardinal sin was titling this as a Christmas book. Where was the holiday spirit? The sugar? The spice? The holiday heart melting treacle that makes my eyes roll even as I ask for more?
This geezer Ebenezered all over my Xmas mood. I’m off to find another holiday rom-com stat.