Reviews

The Big, Bad Billionaire by Jackie Ashenden

kymreads's review

4.0

3.5 stars

Little Red Riding Hood meets the Big Bad Wolf.

There's a lot of ways this could have gone...

I had imagined this would be a little more of the alpha wolf chases and captures the unknowing red riding hood storyline. Instead, it is a rather broken man chasing the young woman he thought he could never have. For me, it bordered on the creepy...or maybe it was that my expectations were too different from how this was really written. My imagination of how this could go didn't fit either character. Their relationship seemed disconnected - I didn't really feel like they truly were that invested. Without giving the story away, let me just say that the reasons for them being together just didn't ring true - a little more like two desperate people with lots of demons to face before they could truly develop a real relationship with one another.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Swerve, for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

jeannethinks's review

4.0

Rafe is used to overcoming obstacles. He's had to deal with the label of uncontrollable since he was a boy. As ruthless as he can be in business he's also known as the charmer. Who better to be the wolf in this reimagined interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood.
Ella is the ballerina who is scared of her own shadow, the perfect prey for Rafe. But when confronted she shows her own claws. Will Rafe tame Little Red and keep her for his own or will they be torn apart...

timitra's review

4.0

The Big, Bad Billionaire is a Little Red Riding Hood retelling that follows two characters, Rafe and Ella who are each broken in their own way. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I loved the banter between these two characters as well as the sexual tension. I think the author did a good job creating it, it kept you wanting more but not to the point where it became frustrating. It was done just right.

I definitely recommend it to fans of fairytale retellings that are hot dirty.


ARC provided by publisher through Net Galley

mags_louise's review

3.0

3.5☆

**I was kindly provided with an ARC by St Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review**

I thought The Big, Bad Billionaire was a good story and I certainly enjoyed the second half a lot more than I did the first. As I found the first part quite hard to get into and the characters difficult to connect with.

Yet during the second half and with the chemistry that develops between Rafe and Ella. I was really drawn in and I liked that this story wasn't sweet and easy and that tough subjects are broached. Including abuse and self harm. And I thought overall it was an interesting take on the Red Riding Hood fairytale. That I would recommend to others. Especially if you've read and enjoyed the other books in this series. Although this can easily be read as a standalone.

emilyhei's review

4.0

As a boy Rafe DeSantis was a hero to Ella Hart, but it didn't last long and Ella quickly learned to hate Rafe after he was sent away to live with his grandfather. Rafe never understood what changed with Ella, as a young girl she chased him around but given his families disdain for him he was not surprised especially after Ella's parents died and his father became her guardian.

Rafe waited patiently though to get his revenge and he got in all ways that matter. He took his fathers company and now has become Ella's guardian. Rafe wants Ella, Ella fears Rafe but when they begin to spend time together it confuses Ella. Can Rafe keep his hard exterior where Ella is concerned but have her too or will she get under his skin and give him a life he never imagined?

I liked this. Fun retelling of a classic and Rafe oozes charisma. Fast paced and entertaining