Saying Yes to the Millionaire by Fiona Harper

Title: Saying Yes to the Millionaire
Author: Fiona Harper
Pages: 187
Genre: Romance, Modern day
Edition: Standard, Thank you to eHarlequin who sent me this book as part of their We Hear You program.



Perfect for : Personal reading

In a nutshell: I really enjoyed this light read. This was a well-written, fun, flirty book with a feel-good ending. Yes, it was a little predictable, but isn't that why we read these books? It was refreshing to read a romance that wasn't chock-full of sex scenes that would make me blush - instead, there was sexual tension and a few savory kisses. I enjoyed the two main characters Fern and Josh a lot. Both characters faced personal growth through the story-line. I learned a lot about London (setting for this book), and the plot kept me reading on to see what would happen next. Fern is challenged by her best friend to say "yes" to everything for one week. The normally very conservative young woman gives it a try, and ends up with a new outlook on life. During her week, she reconnects with her dead brother's best friend, who vowed to watch out for his best-friend's little sister. He takes her on a secret London treasure hunt, where they both face challenges, and in one way or another face the past lost of a loved one (Fern's older brother Ryan). As I said, it was an easy read, and I enjoyed every minute.

From Amazon:
First date: Oxford Circus, London…

When cautious Fern Chambers is challenged by a friend to say yes to every question, she never expects to spend four days with dreamy Josh Adams doing a charity treasure hunt.


First dance: Covent Garden…

Daredevil millionaire Josh never stays in one place—or with one woman—for long. But Fern is challenging that rule….

First kiss: Trafalgar Square…

Josh realizes the treasure he's been looking for may in fact be the beautiful Fern. Can he persuade her to say yes to his final question, the most important one of all?

First Paragraph (Read excerpt on Amazon):
"No, I CAN'T. I don't think I can do this!"
Solid ground was a distant memory. Fern glanced down past her feet and a tidal wave of nausea crashed in her stomach. The Thames glittered in the June sun and London politely carried on about its business one hundred and fifty feet below her. Someone behind her muttered, 'Is she going to jump or not?'

My Review:

Characters: There were really three main characters in this story:

• Ryan - Fern's older brother who died when she was young. He is a theme throughout the book, as both main characters lives' have been impacted by his death. One is sheltered and holds back from life, the other is hiding from loss and holds back from commitment and involvement.
• Fern - Sheltered youngest child (due to loss of older brother) who lives a quiet, sheltered life to please her parents. She focuses on her work and never tries anything new . . . until her best friend challenges her.
• Josh - Vowed to watch-out for his best-friend's younger sister, he leads a life of adventure and has become a self-made millionaire. He can't face the loss of his best childhood friend, and it has affected his relationships until now.

Overall, the characters were well-created, with depth of character and charm. It was nice to experience the characters' growth as the story progressed. Fiona Harper created two very nice characters for this story.
Story-Line: The story line was fun. Girl has known boy forever, always had a crush on him. . . he helps her accomplish something huge, and she returns the favor by participating in a secret treasure hunt through London for four days with him. As a reader, we get to learn about a lot of neat places in London, and some interesting historical facts. A lot of romance authors will take the opportunity to throw in the average three sex scenes throughout a romance book (I'm guessing at that number!), so it was refreshing to only get steamy kisses instead of the normal pelvic grinding and groaning! Every now and then we need to leave something up to the imagination! ;)


Readability: The story was easy to read, although I was thrown by a few English terms such as "trolley" instead of the American "stretcher" inside an ambulance. I think those types of terms made for an authentic story, and added charm to the narration.


Overall: Overall, it was a fun, flirty, easy read that I would be happy to pick up again. The characters were enjoyable, the story adventurous, and after a few hours of reading I was left with a general sense of peace and enjoyment.


About the Author:

Take a moment to visit Fiona Harper's blog here. From her blog:

I write fresh, heart-warming romances for Harlequin Mills & Boon. My first book was published in December 2006. It all happened rather fast and I'm in at the deep end of a new writing career. Watch this space to see if I sink or swim!

She also has a website, where I borrowed her picture.

Fiona currently resides in London, and from her About Me page, it appears that she began writing in earnest in 2004 - thank you for that!! I've really enjoyed reading this book!