Title: Cruel Billionaire (Rich & Shameless #1)
Author: Luma Rose
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Type: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic suspense
Narration: Dual POV
Primary Characters: Isla & Garrin
Secondary Characters: Ford, Asher, Lincoln, Ryker, Everly, Harper
Source: Courtesy of Author/ Publisher – ARC
Blurb as per good read reads
Unbeknownst to her, Isla Flores returned to town with more than just her suitcases in hand. She dragged a shitload of baggage from the past into my present.
Her reappearance spurs my father’s twisted mind into overdrive. He devises a plan for me to marry the woman I love to hate. I want to tell him to go to hell, but he knows my secrets. Our secrets.
The Classholes.
We never speak of what happened on our prom night, but Isla Flores’ arrival threatens to bring that night to the surface and reopen the cold case file.
Doing my father’s bidding will not only make me more like him, it will destroy Isla in the process.
Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
Review
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review.
This is the 1st book in Luma Rose’s “Rich and Shameless” series. I think all the book in this series tell a story about different couple with interconnected plot. This is Garrin and Isla’s story, they knew each other in high school and after her prom night scandal she runs out of town and now she is back in town with her own set of problems. Garrin and Isla had a background and Garrin is not at all ready to face her, but it’s just not that, as blurb says his father devises a plan for him on her return and he is forced to play.
All classholes are now rich billionaire and Isla agreeing to work with Ford, she is bound to face all classholes at one point. Isla is still scared of consequences but she is ready to prove she has moved on from the incident. She is strong and intelligent. Even though title says cruel, we don’t see much of Garrin’s cruel side instead I saw a more of closed off side. It did take me some time to connect to the characters at first but we get connected with them well by the end of the story.
This story gave me mixed feelings. I did feel that, book was dragged a bit at several places. The idea of the story is good with lots of twists and turns. However, the main mystery is still not solved. We don’t know who did that or what happened, we get Garrin’s side of the story. This made me think plots are interconnected. All secondary characters were good. It’s just an introduction we don’t get to see them much, just intriguing enough, hopefully in other books.
Overall, nicely written great start to series with the mystery surrounding classholes not being solved.
Meander - Read & Roam 