Breathless in Love

The Maverick Billionaires, Book 1

By: Bella Andre, Jennifer Skully

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet the Maverick Billionaires, an exciting and emotional contemporary romance series about sexy, self-made men from the wrong side of town who survived hell together and now have everything they ever wanted. But when each Maverick falls head-over-heels for an incredible woman he never saw coming, he will soon find that true love is the only thing he ever really needed....

Will Franconi has a dark past that he's kept a closely guarded secret; very few people have ever heard his real story, and he plans to keep it that way. After surviving a hellish childhood, he's now living the dream life, where everything he touches turns to gold. But something's missing. He doesn't quite know what until a simple letter from a teenage boy brings Harper Newman into his life. A woman who just might fill up the empty places inside him...if only he could ever be worthy of her love.

When a man has more money than he could possibly spend in five lifetimes, Harper has to ask herself what Will Franconi could possibly want from a woman like her. She's learned the hard way that rich men always get what they want no matter the cost. If it was just herself she had to worry about, Harper would manage, but she's guardian to her younger brother, who depends on her for everything. After nearly losing his life in a car crash, she's vowed never to let anyone hurt him ever again. Still, sometimes Harper can't help but long to change her story from one of an always-cautious woman to an adventurous tale of a heroine who's wild and free...especially when Will's kisses and caresses make her utterly breathless. And as he begins to reveal his story to her, she discovers that he's so much more than just another wealthy, privileged man. He's kind and giving, and he fills up all the spaces inside of her heart that have been empty for so long. Together can they rewrite their stories into a happily ever after that neither of them had previously thought was possible?

©2015 Maverick Oak Press (P)2015 Maverick Oak Press

LOVELY FEEL-GOOD ROMANCE & A GOOD START

Billionaire Will and Hayley met because of Jeremy her teenage brother's love of fast cars and car lover Will had a hanger full of them and Jeremy was desperate to see them. A tragic accident had left the teenage Jeremy mentally impaired and he would always act like a much younger version of himself however he was loving, kind, thoughtful and a treasure. And that is exactly what Hayley, his care giver and big Sister, did, she treasured him, protected him and looked after him even though she had a successful business of her own to manage. She put his life and needs before her own which were buried deep and rarely thought of. And then things changed when she met the handsome and charming Will who was nothing like she was expecting.

Will had everything money could buy and yet something was missing and, as soon as he sets eyes on beautiful caring Hayley, he knew what it was - her..... and he also liked and had a tender spot for the fun loving Jeremy too. However, Hayley had to be the sensible Sister tentatively letting her barriers down as Will spent more and more time mentoring Jeremy. The chemistry and sparks were there and, through tender words and soft touches that led to caresses, Will finally unleashes the woman within. Will has mental anguish because despite being thoughtful, respectful and generous he is haunted by Demons in his past which often makes him feel inferior and unworthy of Hayley but it doesn't stop him.... nothing can. Until everything is perfect and one phone call destroys it all.

This is a sweet contemporary listen, 5 boys with bad backgrounds rise up to become self-made Billionaires with the help of a loving Foster family and now they're a tight group of best friends and business partners. Regarding the love story - I enjoyed and felt the connection all three characters had with each other and relished Will's slow approach towards the guarded Hayley. And when the passion, romance and sex was finally unleashed you could feel the hesitation, nervousness.... and the rush. My only negative thought was that I just couldn't see a powerful successful Billionaire be put off from ever getting naked because of a tattoo (can't say more).

Worth a credit? Dual POV's, good narration and a feel-good love story that had a subtle but positive message about brain injury and how it affects a family. It wasn't depressing, it didn't dwell on anything negative and focussed mainly on the positives and the blossoming romance. Lovely story and YES creditworthy.

Great book excellent narrator!

Great story, Will was every womens dream but Harper was not a nice person, I did not like the personality she projected. Over look that and the book was wonderful, great narration.

Ready for book 2!!

Love the story. Book 2 here we go!! Can't wait. Headphones & pool here I come!

This was my first Bella Andre book and I loved it!

This was my first Bella Andre book and I loved it!

It was such a sweet and heartwarming story of redemption, forgiveness and hope (with a little steam thrown in there). Everything about it just hit the spot.

The Maverick Group is a group of men...Will, Sebastian, Daniel, Evan and Matt. They are life long friends brought together by childhood mischief and misfortune. They made a pact to get out of their old neighborhood and to make something of themselves. Something they all succeeded in doing.

Breathless in Love is Will's story.
You'll get to meet Harper Newman and her younger brother Jeremy. They take you on a special and beautiful journey and I don't want to give anything away so that is all I am going to say.

I absolutely fell in love with Will Franconi and I am sure you will too!

And after reading the epilogue, I can't wait for Reckless in Love and to find out more about Sebastian!

Eva Kaminsky hit it out of the park as usual. She is a wonderful narrator. She completely sucked me into Will and Harper's story!

If NPR played Audible books...

This book had more of a plot and character development than some contemporary romance novels. The only downside of the story was that at times it got redundant, perhaps because of two authors? I'll definitely read the second in the series. READ being the operative word. The narrator was so uptight sounding, I kept thinking it would be appropriate for NPR. I stopped listening to it about two hours in and read the rest on Kindle. I think she'd be a fine narrator for another genre.

something worth reading, a decent listen

AudioBook Review: Stars: Overall: 4 Narration: 3 Story: 4

The Mavericks are a group of five friends (Daniel. Sebastian, Evan, Matt and Will) who have been friends for years. Picking themselves up from neglect and abuse (and the resulting troubles) as children, they’ve moved on to more and better, never forgetting where they came from.

First up is Will, who has spent the intervening years atoning, for his past, but never quite believing he is worthy of the good things that are coming from his new focus on life. His past is tortured and heartbreaking, not always the best choices were made, but completely understandable in the situation he was thrust into. But, his guilt, often overriding, and the lack of self-belief are incredibly sad: he’s changed and reinvented himself, if only he could see it.

And then comes Harper, with her own set of overwhelming circumstances in the form of a younger (now 18 year old) brother who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child and isn’t able to function completely on his own. Harper is bound and determined that she is meant to provide for Jeremy, and has done her level best to always provide and be the father and mother he needs. Until Will, she had no real thoughts of a relationship for herself.

These three are wonderful together. Will, most probably because of the past experience he had with being unwanted, misjudged and essentially ignored is wonderful with Jeremy, engaged and engaging, and seeing things in the boy that only he could. The fact that Harper trusts him to spend time with Jeremy, despite his past, gives him moments of hope for brighter things on the horizon. And the connection between Harper and Will is well-written and all the more striking for Harper’s unwillingness to accept Will’s self-doubt and self-deprecation. Moments of steam add to build their connection, and this story shows a dubious trope (the Billionaire) as something worth reading, presenting real life difficulties and challenges without overwhelming or losing the romantic moments.

Narration is provided by Eva Kaminsky for this story, and workmanlike or steady are the best descriptives. Slight variations in tone and delivery did highlight the different characters, but the long time spent in interior monologues did not give me the satisfaction of fast-paced one off the other dialogue that adds to the enjoyment of an audiobook. A decent listen which I would have liked to see in dual-narration.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Audible Customer Relations for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

What a romance :)

This is the first book in the series, and already an amazing start! Will is a billionaire who builds cars and takes care of business. He receives a letter from a teen who loves cars. He decides to meet him, and he also meets Harper, the sister and pretty thing she is. They get together a lot more since, and you get a lot of friendship, romance, and of course, some drama in between. Seriously a great book!

Great book

Breathless in Love (Maverick Billionaires)

Will and Harper are the first couple in this series and I loved them both so much for many different reasons.

Will is a guy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks but I feel that he never truly fit in with that group of kids.  Now he's grown and he continues to try and make up for things in his youth.

Harper had a lot of responsibility thrown on her at a very young age.  She loves her brother Jeremy and will do anything to protect him, including taking Jeremy to meet Will and his car collection.

Jeremy is the star of the parts of the book and each one of the Mavericks made me see a glimpse of what is to come in future books.

Eva Kaminsky does a great job bringing these characters to life. I forgot there was only narrator at times because she did such a great job.

Hard To Finish…….

This was my first Bella Andrea story and I felt a little let down. I was expecting it to have more drama, action, romance….something, but it felt so watered down, it barely held my attention. I stopped listening several times, and had to force myself to finish. The writing was good, but the plot was mind numbingly dull, and the best part of the whole story was Jeremy. While I didn't connect to this story, I would still consider listening to another story by Bella Andrea.

Eva Kaminsky did an awesome job with the narration. I loved how she portrayed the characters, especially Jeremy.

This book has lots of heart!

This novel really pulled at my heart strings. It has great life lessons, i.e., forgiveness, endeavoring to live each day to the fullest, and great insight on how to treat and view those who are disabled or handicapped. We really should have more compassion for them, yet give them more credit for what they can accomplish, as well as what they can teach us. A lot of wonderful principles were in this book and I was very pleasantly surprised listening to it. The author tapped a well of wisdom in writing this, and the narrator was spot on in every way.