Alyssa J. Montgomery

Five Dates with the Billionaire
3 Stars

***An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Billionaire CEO Connor Stewart is manipulated by his grandmother into dating Mia Sims, the woman he calls the "Mouse in marketing" due to her dowdy looks and bland personality. However, beneath her boring facade lies a gorgeous and intelligent woman hiding a devastating secret. Will Connor be able to see beneath the surface appearances? Will Mia's secret doom the potential for a future together?

The book has tremendous potential and contains many of my favorite tropes, i.e, office romance and witness protection. The suspense plot is surprising and engaging, but the romance is a bit lackluster.

The story begins like any other category romance with a mix of one cliché after another - sexy billionaire hero betrayed by his ex and dead set against marriage; ugly duckling heroine who wows said hero after a makeover; suspicion and animosity that turns into sexual attraction and love. While these themes are common in contemporary romance, they can be quite entertaining. However, in this particular case, they are too prosaic. Connor and Mia's chemistry is subdued and their eventual "I love you's" feel forced and contrived.

In contrast, the suspense plot is very well-written and interwoven with the romance. The threat from Mia's past is believable, and there are excellent twists and turns as well as some intense and satisfying moments. The only minor issue here is that the government agency responsible for the Witness Protection Program is the US Marshalls and not the FBI.

Overall, worth the read for the solid suspense rather than the predictable romance.… (mer)

Rating: ★★✬☆☆ (2.5/5 Stars)
Title: Seduced By The Enemy
Author(s): Alyssa J. Montgomery
Character(s):
― Olivia Temple: 28 years old, Blonde, Blue Eyed
― Luca Borghetti: Brunette, Black Eyed
Setting: Rome, Italy
Tag(s): Romance, Contemporary
Content Rating: ―
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: ―
Favorite Quote(s): N/A
Overall Opinion:
“Seduced By The Enemy” by Alyssa J. Montgomery is your basic average romance filled with family drama, love and lost, and opposite-attract. From day one, despite having a very bad first impression filled with mistaken identities, it became more than apparent the oozing attraction between Olivia and Luca and they fight long and hard to ignore it but it becomes too much. Overall it was a pleasant read, obviously not spectacular, even though I did find it annoying that everything that could go wrong, went wrong with the lead heroine: sister and father deaths, art career dissolving, end engagement, etc. That portion of the series was a turn off and to be honest the series just lacked excitement so I decided to dropped the series. Perhaps in the future I'll restart where I dropped off.

… (mer)

I have 💕💕💕 this series.
I wasn't sure I would like this one as he's a playboy. But after meeting Chloe he doesn't have eyes for another woman even if events make Chloe believe otherwise.
They have a strong physical connection but after the initial 'meeting' she does try to resist the draw to him and doesn't make it easy for him.
Marco feels a strong pull to Chloe and after a tragic relationship in his past finally feels he may be able to move on. Then her mother interferes. She is truly awful and yet is just the sort of evil character that makes a good story.
It is well written, there are appearances from the couples from the previous books in the series so the reader gets to catch up with them.

I thought it was relatively realistic and quite an emotional story. Marco is awful to Chloe after her mother's actions at the beginning but when he realises his mistake he does a huge redemption.

Well worth a read.

💕💞💓💋

💑💔💕💖

💍👑🚼🌍🏰💒


ARC.… (mer)

This is a second chance romance and a modern twist on the Cinderella story.
The story was good, hero has formed a wrong opinion of the heronie and plans revenge as he feels slighted when she failed to return after promising to.
It's a good version.
One issue I had was he treats her badly, saying hurtful and humiliating stuff but he kisses her and she forgets it all and can't resist. I just wish with the modern twist that she had a bit more backbone and didn't give in to his massive ego and his obvious unresistable sexual prowess.
Sigh!!
But it is seriously good, quite a bit to the plot.
ARC.… (mer)