Book Fidelity
  • Currently Reading
  • Blog
  • Reviews
    • By Author
    • By Title
    • By Trope
    • Favorite Authors
    • Book Series
  • About
    • For Readers!
    • For Authors & Publishers
    • Celia's Faves
    • Challenges >
      • Rory Gilmore Challenge
      • A Book From Every State
      • Horror Books
  • *NEW* Bookish Goods

Review: The Billionaire's Virgin

2/21/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Billionaire's Virgin
A Billionaire Fairytale
​by Jackie Ashenden

Synopsis
Dark, tortured, and intimidating, these dominant billionaires will steal their innocent heroines' breath away. Overwhelmed by their desire to control their world, they push their heroines to explore their deepest desires. But even the most unworldly of heroines can unlock these billionaires' secrets.


Xavier De Santis: Disgraced. Ruinous. Playboy. 

The headlines are always shouting about Xavier’s various excesses, and he’s everything they say he is. But now he’s gone too far, and the black sheep of the De Santis family has been ordered to clean up his image. Volunteering at a homeless shelter, he sees a bright light amidst all the bleakness. An angel whose luminous face and tragic beauty call to him in ways he can’t explain. 
​
Mia: Vulnerable. Homeless. Virgin. 

When the shelter Mia calls home closes, she is left with nowhere to go - nowhere except for the luxurious, glorious palace of a home that Xavier De Santis has invited her to stay. This too-handsome billionaire is dark, dangerous - and also too good to be true. But surely Mia can indulge in her fantasies and escape the drudges of her daily life for just one night?


As one night turns into two, Mia knows that eventually, the magic will end and she will have to return to her life of hardship. She can't keep the beautiful clothes. She can't keep the soft bed. And most of all, she can't keep the hard, handsome, brutal man who makes her crave his touch with every breath she takes. Mia doesn't belong in his world. But as Xavier tempts his rags-to-riches heroine with exquisite pleasure and heady desire, Mia doesn't stand a chance but to surrender completely to him.

Review

Caution - this may be a bit spoilery.

I'm at a little bit of a loss for this story, readers. On the one hand, I enjoyed Ashenden's writing, and felt she was able to adapt a fairy tale into modern times while also giving a voice to a population we don't get to hear about often, the homeless. On the other hand, as much as I appreciated that Xavier was supportive of Mia, I didn't enjoy the whole "virgin" aspect of the situation. 

In so many stories, especially romance, The Virgin is this almost-holy being that is innocent, untouchable, and therefore still able to be saved. I found this a difficult contrast with what we had been shown already - Mia as a homeless young woman who had made decisions she thought best for herself. That is something to be appreciated, and I felt the introduction of her being a virgin made everything trickle down to that. It seemed that all of a sudden it didn't matter that Mia was a fighter, and a survivor - no, it mattered that she had never been sexually touched and oh, isn't that special. 


I truly commend the author for introducing a new population to her readers. It is definitely the first time I see it in romance fiction. But I want romance authors (all authors, really) to remember is that we are shaped by our experiences, the good and the bad, and I don't mind my heroines having a background. I don't mind them knowing what they like or don't like. Don't get me wrong, I do love a good virgin trope. But when you're already doing something special (and yes, I think introducing the homeless population as ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE with WANTS, NEEDS, ETC. is special) , just go for it.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

      Want to receive monthly highlights from Book Fidelity? Sign up!

    Subscribe to Book Fidelity!
    Click to set custom HTML
    Powered by Curator.io
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Alpha Hero But Not A Douche Hero
    Angels
    Anthology
    Anxiety
    Arranged Marriage/marriage Of Convenience
    Author Spotlight
    Awesome Women Doing Awesome Things
    Badass Heroine
    Bad Boy
    Better Luck Next Time
    Biker Guy
    Billionaire Bad Boy
    Book Blast
    Book Blitz
    Book Haul
    Bookish Gift Ideas
    Book Pile
    Books About Books
    Book Spotlight
    Boy Next Door Romance
    Campus Romance
    Cemetery
    Challenge
    Children's Lit
    Christian
    Christmas Read
    Christmas Romance
    Chronic Pain
    Classic
    Coffee
    Collection
    Coming Of Age
    Con Man
    Contemporary
    Cover Reveal
    Cozy Mystery
    Crafty
    Crime Fiction
    Cross Stitch
    Curvy
    Death
    Death As A Character
    Dystopian
    Enemies To Lovers
    Entangled Pub
    Erotica
    Erotica Lite
    Existentialism
    Fae
    Fairy Tale Re Telling
    Fairy Tale Re-telling
    Fake Relationship
    Fantasy
    Fantasy Realism
    Fantasy Romance
    Feminism
    Fever Series
    Fiction
    Final Girls
    France
    Friendship
    Friends To Enemies
    Friends To Lovers
    Funny
    Gargoyles
    Geek Love
    Gift
    Giveaway
    Greek Gods
    Grumpy Hero
    Hacker Girl
    Hard Science Fiction
    Highlander
    Hispanic Fiction
    Historical Fiction
    Historical Romance
    Hockey Romance
    Holiday Read
    Holocaust
    Horror
    Hot Rocker Romance
    In Progress
    It's A Movie!
    Karen Marie Moning
    Las Vegas Baby
    Library
    Life Of A Reader
    Literary Fiction
    Love Story
    LoveStruck
    LSBBT
    Magical Realism
    Marriage Of Convenience
    Meh
    Memoir
    Mental Health
    Meta
    Middle Grade
    Monthly
    Murder Mondays
    Mystery
    Nerdy Hero
    Nerdy Heroine
    Netgalley
    New Adult
    Newsletter
    New York
    No Male POV
    Nonfiction
    Non Fiction
    Non-Fiction
    Novella
    Paranormal
    Paranormal Romance
    PG/PG-13 Rated
    Philosophy
    Plus Size Heroine
    Poetry
    Political Fiction
    Promo
    Psychology
    PTSD
    Racism
    Rape Culture
    Readathons
    Reading Habits
    Recovery
    Regency Romance
    Retelling
    Revenge Love Story
    Rich Boy
    Romance
    Romance Author
    Romance Read
    Romance Read Wednesday
    Romance/Thriller
    Romantic Suspense
    Romantic Thriller
    Sage's Blog Tours
    Science Fiction
    Scorched
    Scots
    Second Chance Love
    Self-Help
    Series
    Sexy
    Short Read
    Short Stories
    Short Story
    "soft" S&M
    Sports Romance
    Spotlight
    Starbucks
    Steampunk
    Suspense
    Suspenseful Romance
    Sweet Candy Press
    Tag You're It!
    Talia Hibbert
    TBR
    Texas
    Texas Bloggers
    There's A Dog!
    Thrift Book Haul
    Thrift Books
    Thriller
    Trigger Warning
    True Crime
    Urban Fantasy
    Vacation Fling
    Vaginal Fantasy
    Vaginal Fantasy Friday
    Vampires
    Werewolves
    Western
    Workplace Romance
    Xpresso Book Tours
    Xstitch
    Ya
    Young Adult
    Zine

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.