Book Review — Mister Moneybags by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

She was falling for two men.
Only, both men were me.
And when she found out, we were both going to lose her…

• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (Kindle)
• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (Paperback)
• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (iBooks)

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Penelope Ward & Vi Keelend have hit another home run with this book!! It was everything a romance reader could wish for — FUN, SEXY, ANGSTY and HEART-WARMING! The banter made me laugh out loud, the romance was swooooooony and passionate, and the twists took me by surprise and kept my heart racing as I madly flipped the pages as fast as I could!! The story was very intriguing — the heroine met two men who seemed like complete opposites, one online and the other in person, but what she didn’t know was that they were actually the same guy!!! If you’re looking for a thoroughly entertaining, exciting, thrilling, and HOT romance, I highly recommend this!!!

I met Bianca in an elevator.

She was on her way to interview me when we got stuck.
The beautiful raven-haired reporter assumed I was a delivery guy because of the way I was dressed.

She had no clue I was really Dex Truitt, the wealthy, successful businessman she’d dubbed “Mister Moneybags”―her afternoon appointment.

Bianca told me how much she hated Dex’s type―snobby, over educated, silver-spooned men who didn’t appreciate the simple things in life.

So, after the elevator finally started moving again, I cancelled the interview and let her believe I was someone I wasn’t―a bike messenger named Jay. I loved the way she looked at the fake me and didn’t want it to end.

I began dating her as “Jay”―all the while letting her interview the real me over email.

I didn’t expect that our chemistry online would be just as hot.
I didn’t expect the mess I’d gotten myself into.
I didn’t expect that Jay and Dex would fall in love with her.

And she was falling for two men.
Only, both men were me.
And when she found out, we were both going to lose her.

Nothing could have prepared me for that day. And I certainly wasn’t prepared for what came after.

All good things must come to an end, right?
Except our ending was one I didn’t see coming.

From the first few pages, I was already smiling and chuckling. Even though they’d just met, when they were stuck in that dark elevator, their banter was so much fun and I couldn’t wait to see where their story would go.

“Sorry. It’s a technique I use to fend off the panic — screaming at the top of my lungs.”
“That’s the best technique you have?”
“I have a few different techniques. I can also massage my balls.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have balls. Massaging them really helps.”
“Your… balls? You looked like a woman to me, pretty damn shapely from the back, at least.”
“They’re Boading balls. Metal meditation balls. I massage them against each other in a circular motion in my palm. It helps calm me down.” I began to frantically search through my purse.
“What’s all that rustling?” he asked.
“I’m trying to find them. They’re somewhere in my bag.” Without light, I wasn’t able to easily locate them. “Shit, where are they?”
He chuckled. “I have some balls you could massage if you’re in a pickle.”

I have to say that even though it was undeniably wrong of Dex to have misled her into thinking he was someone else, I kinda understand why he did it. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. He’d never met a girl who intrigued him as much as she did and it was clear that he was set up to lose since before even meeting him, she had her mind set on hating him. He had no idea why she was so convinced that he (as the CEO) was an asshole, but he was determined to find out — and the only way he could do that and also get a chance to actually get to know her was to hide his real identity. If she knew he was really the man she thought she hated, she’d never have given him the time of day.

“Just because someone is rich and powerful doesn’t make them a bad person.”
“It’s not just that.”
“What is it, then?”
“Let’s just say, I’ve done my homework for this interview, and I have first-hand knowledge the guy’s an asshole. It’s too much to get into.”
Fuck. My pulse was starting to race. I needed to know why and she had such preconceived notions about me. She definitely couldn’t have suspected that I was Dexter Truitt, given the casual clothes I was wearing after the gym. I looked like a fucking bike messenger instead of the CEO of a multi-million-dollar empire.

Unfortunately for him though, the deeper the lie about his identity went, the further up her shit list he placed himself because not only was he lying to her, he was also hiding the fact that he was exactly the type of man she hated most. In part. Lucky for him, she was actually falling for the side of himself that he was showing her and he wasn’t changing his personality by pretending to be Jay so the person she was falling for was in many ways just as real as he (Dex) was.

“Sweet dreams.” I sounded more like a teenage boy than a mogul. Unprofessional, but I really didn’t give a shit. I’d almost called her Georgy Girl, too. That’s Jay’s nickname for her, you dumbass. That cocksucker, Jay. Laughing to myself, I thought about how insane this was. Dex hated Jay because he would be spending time with her in person soon. And Jay fucking detested that rich prick, Dex, for abusing his power to get to know her better.
…
Jay had a date with Bianca for two nights from now, and Dex was gearing up for his 11PM chat. What had this woman done to me?

As Dex, his real-life CEO persona, got to know her more through emails, and Jay, his made-up ‘bike messenger’ personal took her out on real dates, the deeper their tangled relationship went. She had no idea they were the same person and Dex knew he only had a limited amount of time to put things straight before he risked losing her forever.

And just…. LOLOLOLOL!!!! I’ll let you find out on your own what happens when she figures everything out. Heeheeheeeeeee!!! 😀

Oooooh and if you thought things were complicated, just you wait because there’s a huuuuuuge SECRET connecting them that neither one of them knew about and that placed everything they’d come to know and feel in jeopardy! From that point on, the book took a decidedly angsty turn (which I loved) — almost forbidden — and I just couldn’t turn those pages fast enough! And I really thought that that whole “issue” was handled SO well!! I completely agreed with their approach to it and in the end, the epilogue gave everything I could have dreamed of for this story!

“I’ll be going home to my house and curling up under my sheets with a four-legged beast who seems to think my bed is his. I will be praying to God that you find it in your heart to forgive me. And I’ll wake up tomorrow morning, seizing the new day and trying like hell to get you to give me a second chance.”

This is a book about not being afraid of who you are and realizing that you can’t judge someone before meeting them. Everyone has layers and you never know who you might fall for even if you expect to hate them. I loved watching Dex and Bianca fall in love and navigate through the unique challenges that their relationship’s rocky start brought on. And most importantly, I loved seeing them learn from their mistakes. I never expect characters to be perfect — making mistakes is human, but what I always want to see and what tells me the most about their character is how they handle their mistakes and whether they learn from them.

It’s also a HOT HOT HOT romance that’ll make you blush and swooon. It’s got that perfect balance between fun and feels that I’ve come to love from these authors. It’s a sexy, swoon-filled romantic comedy with heart and surprises!!

“No matter what, you are the love of my life. No one will ever replace you.”

This is a complete standalone novel — not related to any other books written by either author. It’s written in first person perspective from alternating POVs. There is no cheating, no real triangle (or at least, I don’t think it really counts as one if the two guys are the same person) and a completely satisfying ending with an epilogue.

Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland are two of the most talented authors writing romance today. I’m always eagerly looking forward to each book that they release (separately and together) and I highly recommend their books to any fans of sexy, angsty, heart-warming romance that is guaranteed to make you laugh, swoon, and fall in love!!!

Rating: 4.5 + stars!! Standalone Adult Contemporary Romance.

• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (Kindle)
• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (Paperback)
• Buy MISTER MONEYBAGS (iBooks)

________________________

More books by this author duo. Unrelated standalones.
No reading order, no connection between books.