Home           New Reviews  
THE BILLIONAIRE'S INTERN – Jackie Ashenden
A Billionaire Fairy Tales Novella
, #3
Swerve
ISBN-13:  978-1-250-13676-3
August 2017
Contemporary Romance

New York City, New York – Present Day

Lorenzo de Santis, CFO of DS Corp., America's biggest defense and protection company, is surprised when Ivan Constantin, head of DS Corp.'s accounts department, comes to Lorenzo's office and asks him if his daughter, Kira, can become his intern.  Kira is over ten years younger than Lorenzo, and he well remembers her since she was about ten years old; crying, undisciplined, always shrieking and laughing one minute and throwing tantrums the next.  In college she barely did any work, and just recently she was the driver in a car accident where two other students were killed and one is still in a coma.  Why would Lorenzo want her in his office?  Ivan says his father, Cesare de Santis, DS Corp.'s CEO, suggested Kira work for him.  Recently Lorenzo has found out that Cesare has been skimming millions off the top of the company, but he can find no evidence.  Instinctively, Lorenzo realizes Kira is only a plant to get information on how much proof he has of his father's guilt.

It was only after her accident that Kira realized she has had ADHD ( attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) all her life, and her parents never had her tested or did anything to help her control herself, get good grades, or even try to study in college.  Since the age of ten when she met Lorenzo at a party at her parents' house and she had a meltdown, he has been her hero.  He showed her how to fold a paper crane, and this gesture and the calm it brought her that day by having something to do with her hands meant the world to her.  When she meets Lorenzo now, he has this cold mask on his face which he never had all those years ago, and he wants her to be his intern but never let him see her.  But she can see the longing in his eyes for her, and the feelings she has for him can no longer be denied by either of them.

Lorenzo decides perhaps a short affair with Kira can cure the feelings he has for her, but instead of curing him they get worse.  Kira feels Lorenzo's struggle to control himself, and knows whatever happens, she could never be good enough for him; she's never been good enough for anyone.

Jackie Ashenden continues her series about the dysfunctional de Santis family and Lorenzo in particular.  Lorenzo hates his father; he blames him for the death of his mother from alcohol and pills, and the woman he had begun to love.  Control is his middle name now, and he cannot afford to let anything or anyone get under his skin.  But Kira blows all his control to bits, and he can't figure out how to get himself back under control again.  Kira is still getting over the accident and the many months of therapy to deal with her undiagnosed ADHD.  Kira lived her life totally without control, and now control is the only thing that can keep her sane and her emotions contained.  Can there be two more similar personalities to come into contact with each other?

Secondary characters are Lorenzo's half-brother, Nero, the computer genius trying to find any proof of guilt on Cesare's part.  Brother Rafe is in charge of PR and also in Cesare's pocket, and no help can be expected from him.  As for Kira's father, Ivan, could he know anything about the missing money?

THE MILLIONAIRE'S INTERN shows us two people trying to hang on to control in their lives; the only thing that they think keeps them sane.  Also in the Billionaire Fairy Tales are brother Xavier's story, THE BILLIONAIRE'S VIRGIN (January 2017) and Nero's Story, THE BILLIONAIRE BEAST (March 2017).  The de Santis family is many things, but normal and loving is not one of them.  There will be a lot of secrets and spying in the story to find out what is going on with Cesare, and a lot of watching Lorenzo lose his vaunted restraint and opening himself to hurt, and Kira's acknowledgement that by denying herself Lorenzo, she is protecting herself from maybe being hurt.  THE MILLIONAIRE'S INTERN is a story of a strong and resilient couple acknowledging their love for each other.

Carolyn Crisher
 
   
index sitemap advanced
site search by freefind