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A review by jlennidorner
The Virgin Billionaire by Ryan Field
4.0
This book is the love story of Luis and Jase. (Jase being the Virgin Billionaire, and owner of a company called Virgin, so it's a double entendre.) I really liked Luis. He picks a favorite word and then works it into conversations. His train of thoughts felt like Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye, which intrigued me. He's exactly the sort of gay guy that one expects in NYC. (Before you lecture me, watch Sex and the City. "Cliché for a reason.") The best part of Luis is his heart; he does things to have money to send to his uncle who is HIV positive, even though the uncle sends the money back.
Luis is obsessed with a blog. There's a section where he tells Jase about commenting on the blog, and it really hit me. It's just brilliant. I'm not sure why I haven't heard others say something along these lines, but it feels like it ought to be a popular quote. "Elena wasn't getting paid to write these excellent blog posts. She was doing it because she loved it, and Luis liked to compliment her as much as he could so she'd keep her blog going forever."
What I disliked, or just found difficult "suspension of disbelief" wise, was the world these two men live in. It's not just that there's an unbelievable amount of acceptance everywhere, but the uncanny amount of men (of any/every sexual preference) that are attracted and flirty/ accept flirts. The book seeps into Fantasy there, in my opinion. Luis says that no one cares if you're gay nowadays, and Jase asks what planet he lives on, "The Planet of Celestial Hope and Goodness?" Granted, NYC has a considerable amount of open-mindedness (or general lack of giving a f...), but the book felt like it skirted over the line just a bit. Maybe that was intentional, making the setting a dreamy character for the reader to lust over.
I felt on-the-fence about Jase's character. On one hand, it felt accurate. On the other hand, his thoughts about being glad that Luis takes on a feminine role... it just struck me wrong. More the way he thought it than that he thought it, if that makes sense.
The editor only missed six typos (knew/new, hip/up), so I feel I can say the author's writing is good.
Luis is obsessed with a blog. There's a section where he tells Jase about commenting on the blog, and it really hit me. It's just brilliant. I'm not sure why I haven't heard others say something along these lines, but it feels like it ought to be a popular quote. "Elena wasn't getting paid to write these excellent blog posts. She was doing it because she loved it, and Luis liked to compliment her as much as he could so she'd keep her blog going forever."
What I disliked, or just found difficult "suspension of disbelief" wise, was the world these two men live in. It's not just that there's an unbelievable amount of acceptance everywhere, but the uncanny amount of men (of any/every sexual preference) that are attracted and flirty/ accept flirts. The book seeps into Fantasy there, in my opinion. Luis says that no one cares if you're gay nowadays, and Jase asks what planet he lives on, "The Planet of Celestial Hope and Goodness?" Granted, NYC has a considerable amount of open-mindedness (or general lack of giving a f...), but the book felt like it skirted over the line just a bit. Maybe that was intentional, making the setting a dreamy character for the reader to lust over.
I felt on-the-fence about Jase's character. On one hand, it felt accurate. On the other hand, his thoughts about being glad that Luis takes on a feminine role... it just struck me wrong. More the way he thought it than that he thought it, if that makes sense.
The editor only missed six typos (knew/new, hip/up), so I feel I can say the author's writing is good.