Stepbrother Billionaire Paperback – December 24, 2014

I really enjoy books by Colleen Masters. She knows how to craft a story to draw you in and keep you hooked. Thank goodness I didn’t have to work today because I started this when I woke up this morning, intending to only read “for a little bit” and before I knew it, I was at 75% in the book and since I was that far, I went a finished the book. :DI really enjoyed the set up of the story, the connection that was built between Emerson and Abby. They were high school seniors, just weeks before their 18th birthdays. Their parents were dating and living together, forcing them together. They had a clear cut plan…one night and then they go their separate ways because the next day, their parents are getting married. Well….things didn’t quite go as planned. They got their night, and the parents got married but…things blew up after that.I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the parents got married, but I can say I didn’t expect what <b>did</b> happen. My jaw dropped, I started laughing and had an OMG moment. Of all the things that could have happened, I never would have guessed that!Where I started having a few issues was the present day/adult version of the characters. Emerson felt like an adult. He’d been through a lot with his mom after things blew up between her and Abby’s dad and he found something he loved and was good at, created a career, traveled and Abby…didn’t. She went to college and was looking for a job. That’s fine, I’m cool with that, heck, I’m living that! But she was stuck living in the past, under her the thumb of her grandparents. So when Emerson and Abby met up again, by chance, he acted like an adult and she acted like the high school girl she was last time they saw each other. Her response to seeing him was to run from him. I don’t really have an big issues with the story, but I wish that the adult time for the characters were longer, fleshed out more. With them having spent more time together.Pretty early on in their reunion, Abby and Emerson face a challenge regarding work and their newly rekindled relationship. And true to her nature, Abby wants to run from Emerson. But she gets some advice from the last place I’d expect….her dad. He’s basically be absent from her life for the last 8 years and he barely acknowledged her before that…and after the way things went down 8 years ago, I had issues with him being the one to “make her see reason” (totally my words, but I can’t think of another way to phrase it).My one other issue was Abby’s grandparents. At one point in the book, Abby takes Emerson to the tree house in the backyard. She says that her grandfather built it and that he’s a good man. They may be rich, but their good people. I had assumed that the grandparents in question were her dad’s parents since the grandpa built it for her dad when he was a kid, but…if that’s the case, I want to know what happened between that part of the book and actually meeting the grandparents. The people that were introduced during the wedding scene were the furthest thing from “good people”. They were snobby and rude and just plain horrible. And the way the later treated Abby was awful. So I was left wondering if the grandparents were the same “good people” she had referred to.Other than those few issues, I did enjoy the story. I loved the connection & chemistry between Emerson and Abby. The book was entertaining and kept me hooked to read it in one sitting,

It started out good and I actually enjoyed the first half. . .but the entire second half felt forced and the main characters weren't as interesting and the secondary characters were downright stereotyped. Everything could have simmered a lot longer in the second half and been a much better story. It felt like it was a rush job to finish it and that's too bad because the whole idea had a lot of potential and I really liked the two protagonists.Also, the title is just a little pretentious and while it felt misleading the first half of the book (her family had the money, not his) it made the end too predictable once their situations were reversed and also made the "out" way to easy for them.SPOILERS: What I would have loved to have had happen:1-The parents marriage dissolving the first day was a cop-out. It would have been much more interesting for Abby and Emerson to have had to put up with months (even years) of their parents being married. An unhappy marriage would have been fabulous because then the pointlessness of the parents marriage would have made it all the more tragic.2-Instead of Emerson and Abby having completely lost track of each other, let them have avoided each other on purposes after they got into college and have him reach out to help her get a job at the company he works with, them both telling themselves that they've grown up and they can move on and work together.3-Don't make him a billionaire. Reasonably wealthy, yes, but it was too over the top.4-Have them work together for a while, pretending they don't feel anything for each other and a gradual re-establishment of the relationship. Have their parents be so pleased that the "siblings" are working together5-Abby has her job a day before she gets fired. She has no emotional investment in the company and no one has emotional investment in her. Also, her boss freaks out about her with her "brother" but they were barely step-siblings for 24 hours before the marriage was over and because he's just met Abby, he has no reason to be judgemental. . .but if he'd been introduced to her as "this is my sister" and the two of them had played the sibling card a lot harder when they worked together to try to hide their feelings and then the office would have a lot more scandal with a lot more reason when it became clear there was something more. Maybe have them unable to resist each other but hiding it from the office and their families for a really long time so there's a reason for everyone to freak out.6-A good ending would be that when people do find out and Abby's grandparents freak out that her Dad comes to her and say that he and Deborah have talked it over and have decided to get a divorce because neither of them have been happy together and they realize their divorce might pave the way for their children's happiness.While I respect the author for getting a book published, I wish she'd waited a little longer to develop the story into what could have been a very bleak look at an ill-fated love that had a happy ending despite all odds. That's what I thought we were going to get (and in a way, we did) but so rushed it wasn't satisfying.

Colleen Masters has done it again with this dreamy realistic love story between Emerson and Abby. They both fell for each other at 17, but the surprise secret their mom and dad revealed, tore these two lovebirds apart and they lost each other for 8 years. But neither had forgot the other all that time, then fate brings them back together when they both end up working for the same company. Once they set eyes on each other again, the fire started burning HOT AND SEXY as ever. But as their streak of bad luck continued, Cooper and Abby's grandparents wreaked havoc on these two and could have torn them apart. Thank God Emerson was strong enough for both of them, he was determined not to lose Abby again. Abby got the confirmation she needed to just jump and take a chance when she got a knock on the door from someone she had not seen in years, that told her to choose Emerson over anything else in life. At this part in the book I was on the brink of tears, then completely lost it when Emerson asked Abby if she wanted to put the pearl ring he gave her on her left hand. That was so SWEET. EMERSON you made me SWOON.

I really think the naughty scenes were copy pasted without any editing from some "naughty scene.doc" file on the author's computer somewhere. Without exactly quoting, there was a lot of "more than any man she'd ever been with" and other sorts of phrases that did not at all match with the character, who had *very* little experience with men. Also I hated the way the two of them dealt with their problem at work. It just made me stop being interested in the book when the characters you're supposed to be rooting for act so inappropriately. And people's reactions to their dilemma of being attracted to each other as step-siblings seemed oddly overblown. The book just didn't get me on its side at any point.

I really liked the storyline and the characters. The only downside was it needed a bit more depth and length to the story, things move from one thing to anther far to quickly, i feel as if the wroter had re read the completed book, stepped back and read it again, and added more depth and length then this would have been a mind blowing 5 star read. It needed more shocking situations, to much happens and passes to quickly. Its worth reading.

Omg. Poor Abby hasn't had an easy life. Now her dad has got a new woman who happens to be her crushes mother.Emerson is the boy who's never noticed me but I've had a major crush on him for years. Now he's about to become my stepbrother.Things are tense but it's forbidden.This is a brilliant read. 5 star recommended read.

Has a good start but quickly gets in to the storyline a bit too soon and jumps very fast between scenes and changing relationships. Not much depth to it and the second half becomes cheesier and cheesier and very much predictable. A good read to pass time but is a rather superficial book for the price.

3.5-4 ⭐️ Good! Although they weren't really step siblings for much time at all, it was a fun read and I was curious to see how it ended! Loved how the book was split into two parts, definitely made me want to read on, and so much drama!! Would definitely recommend as an easy, entertaining read 🌞