Enemies who have never met? A muse with a secret? The Mistaken Billionaire is the story of an author with writers block and a woman whose life he ruined years ago.
Thomas St. Clair skyrocketed to literary fame early in his life. Mila wanted to be a reporter for the New York Times more than anything. Writing an article about St. Clair was going to be her ticket. Except, he never met with her, gave her any info, or participated in the interview in any way. So, she became and investigator and found the info to write a less than flattering article. After its publication, Thomas threatened to sue NYT if they didn't fire her. Mila is now a teacher and while she is passionate about what she does, she does still harbor a lot of resentment towards Thomas. Their chance meeting sets off a chain of events that neither can seem to stop!
Thomas falls in love at first sight with Mila. Her presence cures his writers block, and as he gets to know her, he is genuinely captivated by her. She challenges him and she can hold her own with his massive ego. He knows she is 'the one' but is willing to do anything just to keep her around him, including paying her for her time. Mila is desperate for money to help her students, and deep down, she still wants revenge on Thomas. As they get to know each other more, Mila is slowly being crushed by the weight of the secret she kept from Thomas because she has feelings for him.
I enjoyed the story and thought it was a nice balance between witty and light hearted. It is predictable for sure, but in a story like this, I don't think that is necessary tragic. I found Thomas a bit narcissistic (okay, a lot narcissistic) which made me struggle to really like him. I actually sided with Mila a great deal and while she didn't tell him her secret right away, I didn't find that to be a HORRIBLE character flaw or anything. He was really horrible to her when he torched her career because she hurt his feelings. Nothing she wrote in the article was slanderous or libidenous so she didn't break the law, only hurt his feelings. So, I struggled with Thomas for a lot of the book. He is charming for sure, and that is probably what save him in my book.
If you like a bit of enemies to lovers, artist/muse, and secret identity tropes, The Mistaken Billionaire will be right up your literary alley!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: no
- Trope: mistaken identity, enemies to lovers
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes
Sweet Rivalry by K. Bromberg, Its me Again Baby by Katie Reus, Her Wish by Sophie H Morgan...then you will probably like The Mistaken Billionaire!
See full review on The Book Disciple