The Billionaire’s Intern by Jackie Ashenden

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 168 [ePages]

Expected publication: August 1st, 2017

Synopsis:

Lorenzo De Santis: Ruthless. Driven. Ambitious.

Lorenzo De Santis is the boss. He’s an uncompromising hardass, he doesn’t suffer fools, and he doesn’t have time to deal with witless young interns. But when an old friend asks for a favor, Lorenzo can’t refuse. Even if it means taking on the man’s daughter as a project.

Kira Constantin: Rich. Party girl…Spy.

Kira Constantin feels like she has been half-alive since that one night of partying ended in tragedy. So when her father demands that she go undercover at De Santis Corp as a spy, there’s no way she can refuse. She must redeem herself, even if that means dealing with a boss like of Lorenzo De Santis.

Except neither of them counts on the forbidden heat that flares between them. As Kira and Lorenzo draw closer, spying on him becomes harder and harder. And then Kira discovers that the real villain might be closer to her than she thinks…

My Thoughts

I enjoyed Jackie Ashenden’s In Bed With the Billionaire and had reviewed it.

But what did I get from this one?

Well, this was a quick read – on my reading device it was 168 pages which was easily devoured in a day.

What’s the breakdown though?

Lorenzo is a billionaire who works at the family company – DS Corps. where he is trying to bring his father down because allegedly he is stealing from the company – in comes a corporate spy who happens to be the daughter of one of the men who works in the company and is linked to Lorenzo’s past. Kira is to be his intern – which is curious because he doesn’t take them on.

Cue drama llama.

Right off the bat there seems to be some heat accumulating which seemed a little over the top for me, chemistry is one thing but it just seemed to be a little too much too soon. Kira has ADHD – which is mentioned quite frequently and it served as an annoying element which I’ll get to later on.

As far as characters go I felt like Lorenzo had some potential for depth but it was skimmed over so he could take on the alpha male role. Kira was absent minded, fidgety [because of the ADHD…,] and I didn’t take to her character so much, she didn’t leap out or grab my attention in any fashion. Neither one of them experiences much character growth which was a little upsetting for me – because while I enjoy romance/smut I also enjoy good character development or if nothing else a good plot/story.

The ending seemed abrupt and rushed. As I said before I really did enjoy the other Ashenden book I read, but this one just felt rushed, not as tidy. Characters [for me,] weren’t as likable.

For example, Lorenzo says to Kira not too far into the book, as he is forcing her to couple with him,
“Prove yourself and then I’ll decide if I want you.”
In regard to her internship at the company. He belittles her, controls her, strips rights away – dominating her without the perks of a submissive – safety, assurance, etc.

Along side that, the ADHD portion bugged me. It came across as Kira’s ADHD could be cured by a dominant’s willpower – which structure certainly does help, but saying “Still” is much like telling an Epileptic to stop seizing.

Overall, this was an “OK” read for me. It was quick, but those few issues are what made it just an okay read.