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A review by lezreadalot
How to Belong with a Billionaire by Alexis Hall
4.0
Welp, I'm going to be weepy over this one for a bit. In a mostly good way. THEY GOT THEIR HEA.
(Side-note, does George want a rebound girl? IVOLUNTEER.gif)
Caspian has grown and changed so much from the butthead of the first book and honestly I'm so proud of him. I get that for some people it was super frustrating, all his push and pull, all his weakness and waffling, but it couldn't have been easy for him, and that needed to be shown. It wouldn't have been believable for him to leap acceptingly into Arden's arms. He needed to work through his trauma, and I really do like that it wasn't shown happening in one fell swoop at the climax. When Arden went to him for help with his father, Caspian went through so many mini-revelations. The little pause after he tells Arden he needs to forgive himself, and I'm screaming 'FORGIVE YOURSELF TOO'. When he tells Arden that it's not his fault... neither was Lancaster your fault!! The very significant pause after he tells Arden something like 'you never tried to change me' and he realises that that's exactly what Nathaniel tried to do with him!! His road is extremely difficult and man I'm just glad he could come to the point where he realises that he doesn't need to 'deserve' Arden and people don't work like that.
I do feel quite bad for Nathaniel; he loved Caspian and was trying to do what he thought was best, even though what he thought was best was terrible. However, I can't really forgive him for going to fucking Lancaster though. And actually taking Lancaster's advice. What the hell. He knew what he did to Caspian.
Nitpicks! I don't think I like the way the book was... plotted? Structured? Idk it very much felt like some characters had a very static arc within the book and then they disappeared, never to be heard from again. I would have liked Ilya to be a lot more present in the book, not just there and gone. The Nik chapters were lovely (I always love when Hall talks about life and dreams and accomplishments and it was super well done in Nik's case) but felt very self-contained; he was barely in the book aside from that. And I feel like the plot with Arden's father (which, OH MAN, I loved it; I hated the man but I loved what it brought up for Arden and how it was resolved) would have been more acutely felt if it had been a bit more stretched out? Like, if we'd gotten hints of him before he was officially introduced? IDK.
A huge nitpick: Lancaster isn't fucking dead lmao. Especially after what he did and almost did to Arden. It is a depressingly accurate reflection of real life, because as I said in the review for Blow It, rich predators can get away with what they do because they're rich and have privilege and the room and space to be predators, and have all the protection from their predatory behaviour. And I know that Caspian breaking away from Lancaster didn't actually have to come with a huge blow out with Lancaster. So him not getting his comeuppance is to be expected. But I just really wish he had fucking fell down a flight of stairs lmao. Or that Ellery had fucking knifed him instead of just breaking his nose.
(Side-note: Ellery was fucking amazing, she's a superhero and I love her.)
Also it must be mentioned... I definitely understand why Arden didn't say anything; its his trauma and he gets to choose how he tells it. And I get why, in the flurry of all the things happening, Caspian and Nathaniel didn't question Arden showing up. But uh, Caspian being who he is, he's going to be asking Arden pretty soon how in the world he knew to find them at that party. And that will a doozy of a conversation. I would actually really like to see an epilogue where maybe they work that out?
Nitpicks aside, I really did adore this book. It's not just a bdsm romance. I really loved that it showed that kink is something Arden loves and gets off on and likes having in his life, and he indulges in it freely with George, but ultimately he doesn't NEED it from Caspian to love him. He loves him because he's Caspian. The kinky sex is just a really great plus.
I feel like I probably have more thoughts, but maybe I'll add them later? This is one I think I'll want to come back to.
Spoiler
This was super hard to read at times because I just felt so sad at times. But it was a really great story of love and acceptance and GROWTH. Skimming over other reviews I can see that a fair few people are upset about the George thing, and how big of a part she played. And if we're going by the regular romance formula I can definitely see why it would have thrown a few people. In typical romances you don't see the one of the main couple having sex with people other than each other, certainly not detailed sex, certainly not sex where they have fun, and where this person outside the couple isn't a villain or someone to be later reviled. I think people would have preferred Arden to just simply keep pining and wasting away passively for Caspian. But I loved the George bits, and it was really important for Arden to see that he COULD be okay, that he could allow himself to have fun and indulge the parts of himself that were seen as lesser or ugly. Why can't he enjoy himself? The fact that kink isn't inherently bad or evil is a big part of the series. Anyway, from the start we knew it was casual, George certainly wasn't catching feelings, and Arden was literally always thinking of Caspian. Not during, but Caspian was the running thread throughout all their encounters. There was never any doubt that he was in love with Caspian.(Side-note, does George want a rebound girl? IVOLUNTEER.gif)
Caspian has grown and changed so much from the butthead of the first book and honestly I'm so proud of him. I get that for some people it was super frustrating, all his push and pull, all his weakness and waffling, but it couldn't have been easy for him, and that needed to be shown. It wouldn't have been believable for him to leap acceptingly into Arden's arms. He needed to work through his trauma, and I really do like that it wasn't shown happening in one fell swoop at the climax. When Arden went to him for help with his father, Caspian went through so many mini-revelations. The little pause after he tells Arden he needs to forgive himself, and I'm screaming 'FORGIVE YOURSELF TOO'. When he tells Arden that it's not his fault... neither was Lancaster your fault!! The very significant pause after he tells Arden something like 'you never tried to change me' and he realises that that's exactly what Nathaniel tried to do with him!! His road is extremely difficult and man I'm just glad he could come to the point where he realises that he doesn't need to 'deserve' Arden and people don't work like that.
I do feel quite bad for Nathaniel; he loved Caspian and was trying to do what he thought was best, even though what he thought was best was terrible. However, I can't really forgive him for going to fucking Lancaster though. And actually taking Lancaster's advice. What the hell. He knew what he did to Caspian.
Nitpicks! I don't think I like the way the book was... plotted? Structured? Idk it very much felt like some characters had a very static arc within the book and then they disappeared, never to be heard from again. I would have liked Ilya to be a lot more present in the book, not just there and gone. The Nik chapters were lovely (I always love when Hall talks about life and dreams and accomplishments and it was super well done in Nik's case) but felt very self-contained; he was barely in the book aside from that. And I feel like the plot with Arden's father (which, OH MAN, I loved it; I hated the man but I loved what it brought up for Arden and how it was resolved) would have been more acutely felt if it had been a bit more stretched out? Like, if we'd gotten hints of him before he was officially introduced? IDK.
A huge nitpick: Lancaster isn't fucking dead lmao. Especially after what he did and almost did to Arden. It is a depressingly accurate reflection of real life, because as I said in the review for Blow It, rich predators can get away with what they do because they're rich and have privilege and the room and space to be predators, and have all the protection from their predatory behaviour. And I know that Caspian breaking away from Lancaster didn't actually have to come with a huge blow out with Lancaster. So him not getting his comeuppance is to be expected. But I just really wish he had fucking fell down a flight of stairs lmao. Or that Ellery had fucking knifed him instead of just breaking his nose.
(Side-note: Ellery was fucking amazing, she's a superhero and I love her.)
Also it must be mentioned... I definitely understand why Arden didn't say anything; its his trauma and he gets to choose how he tells it. And I get why, in the flurry of all the things happening, Caspian and Nathaniel didn't question Arden showing up. But uh, Caspian being who he is, he's going to be asking Arden pretty soon how in the world he knew to find them at that party. And that will a doozy of a conversation. I would actually really like to see an epilogue where maybe they work that out?
Nitpicks aside, I really did adore this book. It's not just a bdsm romance. I really loved that it showed that kink is something Arden loves and gets off on and likes having in his life, and he indulges in it freely with George, but ultimately he doesn't NEED it from Caspian to love him. He loves him because he's Caspian. The kinky sex is just a really great plus.
I feel like I probably have more thoughts, but maybe I'll add them later? This is one I think I'll want to come back to.