RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'How to Blow It with a Billionaire' by Alexis Hall
Title: How to Blow It with a Billionaire
Series: Arden St. Ives #2
Author: Alexis Hall
Published: December 12, 2017
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; BDSM: Light; Coming of Age; Opposites Attract; Self-Discovery; Cliffhanger; CW: Off-Page Historical Pedophilia
About How to Blow It with a Billionaire
Be careful what you wish for . . .
Once upon a time there was a totally ordinary boy who fell for a cold, beautiful prince. Only it’s not a fairy tale, it’s my life. The prince is a billionaire called Caspian Hart. And we’re trying super hard to live happily ever after.
He’s everything I want, need, and can’t resist: a man who looks like a god and bangs like the devil. Except he’s still got his rules and he’s still got his secrets . . .
But if there’s one thing Caspian’s taught me it’s that you should never settle for less than you’re worth. And I’m worth his trust. I have to show him that I see him. That I’m not afraid of his passion, or his power, or his past. And that I won’t settle for less than everything.
NOTE: This book ends on a cliffhanger! See how Arden and Caspian's love story ends in the third book, coming Summer 2018!
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Anticipating How to Blow It with a Billionaire I reread How to Bang a Billionaire, the first in Alexis Hall's Arden St. Ives series. What a treat. If you saw my review of How to Bang, you'd know it is on my “best of 2017” list. I recommend you devour it before reading this new episode.
The second novel in a romantic trilogy is generally fallow grounds before the spring bloom of triumphant love. But Hall delivers a riotous bouquet of images, as exquisite as the tulips his self-made billionaire, Caspian, delivered to Arden, a desultory Oxford University English graduate, in book one.
Caspian, an overly self-disciplined, morose man became infatuated with Arden, who dreams of becoming a writer, but has been too busy carousing as an undergraduate to apply for a journalism internship. Arden accepted his offer to temporarily live alone in one of Caspian’s uber-wealthy condos, at Caspian's sexual beck and call. What a neat way to delay adulthood!
How to Blow It is told through Arden’s point of view, as he discovers the situation requires more constraint than he has developed, “(Caspian) could reach into my world whenever he wanted, while his remained utterly inaccessible to me... That was the thing about billionaire non-boyfriends, though. They could do anything, reshape the whole fucking world. But you’d probably always be left eating ice cream by yourself.”
While Arden realizes, “Despite having made no effort to get one, I wanted a career,” he’s a perceptive man, noting, “It was easier to say I hadn’t tried than admit I wasn’t good enough.”
Can Arden develop sufficient self-respect to develop his career, equalizing his relationship with Caspian, the man who appears to be more mature?
Hall’s throw-away wisdom's are a delight. “In my experience, dignity was pretty much the opposite of sex,” Arden thinks.
And Hall’s ability to describe the vulnerability, the paradox of submission as power, elevates earthy erotic scenes into rapturous operas.
How to Blow It is a glorious spring, revealing the sensory overload we all encounter, establishing ourselves as young adults, almost a self-help book, how to pick oneself up, find resolve, and honor one’s strengths. To do this Hall paints vivid contrasts between internal and external success.
As easily embarrassed as Arden may be, he knows emotions and flaws can elevate humanity to its finest. Meanwhile, Caspian, sophisticated in all manner of control, loses a bit of himself with each business conquest. While Arden uses Caspian’s admiration to gain courage, Caspian repeatedly insists he’s a monster.
Is Arden naïve, or actually wiser? Hall’s life lesson- lean into your instincts and celebrate your joys- is quintessentially un-British.
A humor-glutton, I was enthralled by Arden’s hedonism. “And sex was all very well but pancakes. Caspian went for the lightest sprinkling of sugar and a twist of lemon juice. While I went for syrup and cream. And strawberries. And chocolate. And-okay, yes, everything. I went for everything. I couldn’t help but notice the way he was watching my lips. It’s possible they were a little bit glisteny. And sticky…And I seriously hoped I was going to pay for this later.”
Hall demonstrates uncanny discernment of language. When Ellery platonically spends the night with Arden, Caspian becomes jealous, accusing her of attempting to seduce his “partner.” Arden’s hyper-sensitive soul is flayed by the fact that Caspian won’t admit his depth of caring, but will use the word “partner” as a wedge to condemn his sister.
“I loved thinking of myself as Caspian’s. I wanted to be claimed and possessed and treasured by him. But in this particular context-when it wasn’t about me or us at all–it was icky. It was icky as fuck,” Arden thinks.
It was obvious Arden would need to decide he was Caspian's equal, but will Caspian come to accept he’s Arden’s equal?
As Hall extensively pre-warns on How to Blow It with a Billionaire’s book jacket, the novel has a “miserable-for-now” ending. But it offers readers sufficient hope to send shivers of anticipation for book three, out Summer 2018.
A copy of How to Blow It with a Billionaire was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Hachette Book Group, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
Alexis Hall was born in the early 1980s and still thinks the 21st century is the future. To this day, he feels cheated that he lived through a fin de siècle but inexplicably failed to drink a single glass of absinthe, dance with a single courtesan, or stay in a single garret.
He did the Oxbridge thing sometime in the 2000s and failed to learn anything of substance. He has had many jobs, including ice cream maker, fortune teller, lab technician, and professional gambler. He was fired from most of them.
He can neither cook nor sing, but he can handle a 17th century smallsword, punts from the proper end, and knows how to hotwire a car.
He lives in southeast England, with no cats and no children, and fully intends to keep it that way.
For more from Alexis be sure and visit his website!
