REVIEW: The Billionaire Bad Boys Club by Emma Holly
Dear Ms. Holly:
You popped my erotica cherry WAY back in the day with your Black Lace release, Menage. I’ve always enjoyed your contemporary set erotica/erotic romances, but stopped reading your books as your paranormal voice did not work for me. So when a Dear Author reader suggested that I try this book, I jumped at the chance.
Zane and Trey have known each other since high school. After a particularly nasty confrontation with his dad, in which Zane is struck, he runs off. Little does he know, his next door neighbor, Trey, has witnessed the incident, and follows Zane to the high school they both attend. Zane is a star football player. A good looking jock who has no problem getting girls. But when he and Trey start to talk, Trey realizes that Zane is bi-sexual. Soon the boys are acting on their mutual attraction and become lovers. They head to Harvard together, and when they graduate, decide to go into business together – an exclusive club called The Bad Boys Club. In short order, the business becomes a global success, making Zane and Trey millionaires. Even with their millions, no one knows that the boys are lovers. They see women publicly, but conduct their relationship in absolute privacy. Until they decide to open a restaurant and meet Rebecca. She’s a rising star chef, and is a perfect fit for their restaurant. Little does she know, back when the boys were in college, she waited on them at a restaurant, and made such an impression on Trey that he’s searched for her for a long time. So when he has the chance to hire her, he acts on it immediately.
Rebecca has raised her two younger brothers, who are now in college, since her mom died and her dad walked out when she was 16. She struggled with all of the issues a young parent has struggled with, but through hard work, has started to gain a name for herself as a chef. She desperately wants to work for the Bad Boy Lounge, making it a premier eatery. When she sees Trey, she’s immediately attracted to him, but knows he’ll be her boss, so nothing can happen. Until Trey acts on his attraction and ends up sleeping with Rebecca. Almost immediately, they agree that it can’t happen again, despite the mind-blowing nature of their encounter. When she meets Zane by chance at a college photo shoot for his magazine, she finds herself attracted to him as well. Zane is also very attracted and soon they are also having sex. When Trey walks in on Zane and Rebecca, he initially angry, but then proposes that the three explore a menage relationship. The trio begins some very spicy encounters that build not just their attraction for each other, but also their feelings for one another. But when one of Zane’s ex’s show up and tries to cause trouble, will the trio be able to keep their private relationship private?
This book requires a big suspension of disbelief. First, that the boys were able to found a mega-million dollar business called “The Bad Boy Club” (cheesiest name ever), but then, that Rebecca is so easily accepting of the boys’ secret and that there seems to be little to no jealousy between the boys, who both seem to have growing feelings for Rebecca. Also, Rebecca’s brothers are completely accepting of the relationship. And once the news hits the public, there seems to be no blowback of any kind.
That being said, it’s a seriously hot book full of great chemistry between all of the leads, your trademark inventive and truly hot sex scenes and likeable characters. While this isn’t my favorite of your books, it’s darned hot and a read that I blew through in about three hours. I found myself enjoying it a ton. I give The Billionaire Bad Boys Club a B-.
Kind regards,
Kati
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At $5.99 for Kindle, I bought it. I like Emma Holly and I could use a fun read by her! It’s nice she’s doing contemporary again. So many of her recent things seemed to be paranormal of some sorts which I don’t really read.
While this is wish fulfillment erotica, I really enjoyed the fact that there was emotion involved on all sides of the equation. And that the boys didn’t throw their own relationship away in their awareness of Rebecca’s attraction.
Trey was the most too-good-to-be-true person in the triangle relationship, I thought. He basically never pushed any of the others to truly acknowledge their own feelings. A bit of a saint, heh.
ARGGHHHHH…
The thumbnail coupled with the word “erotic” made me think the cover dude’s arm was something else.
And all I could think was, ‘Wow, they’re getting kind of explicit with these covers…’
Not available for the Nook thru B&N. /scowls
@CG: I just checked it and was able to find it in Nook format on the BN site. I found it here: http://bit.ly/S9RrRt
@Fiona: LOL. And the shadow on his abs looks kind of phallic too.
@Kati: Thank you. Off to purchase : )
I read it and enjoyed it as a light, hot read, but I couldn’t get to grips with the way the two men defined their bisexuality. They were in love with each other so they didn’t have sex with other men: fine. But it was pretty implicit that they weren’t attracted to other men, which rang GFY warning bells.
Then, before Rebecca, they slept with many, many women, not solely to preserve the front of being straight, but because they seemed to have an itch only het sex could scratch. Even though sex with women was mostly one-night stands with no emotion involved. Umm, why do it then? Attracted to both sexes, fine. Needing to have sex with both or life’s not complete? Confusing.
And the double penetration standing up in the elevator scene was… wow. I had to read it three times and even then I couldn’t picture the angles and who was holding them all up.