The Grumpy Billionaire

By: Annika Martin

Narrated by: Grayson Owens, Angelina Rocca

A Grumpy/Sunshine Brother's Best Friend Romantic Comedy

Hugo Jones: Brother's best friend. Mega billionaire. Grumpiest boss ever.

I brandish equations like lightning bolts and shatter fortunes with mere scribbles on a whiteboard. People up and down Wall Street steer clear of me—or come to regret it.

My walls are impenetrable as Alcatraz, and my self-control? Rock solid, my friend.

Except when it comes to her.

The woman I've secretly longed for. The only woman I can never have.

My best friend’s little sister, Stella.

Growing up, she saw me as a heartless robot. It couldn't be further from the truth, but a promise I made to her brother binds me, and my code of honor is as rigid as my isosceles triangle.

I hadn't laid eyes on her for years, but now she's in the heart of Manhattan, and I've unintentionally sent her career into a nosedive. My solution? Offer her a job at my hedge fund.

Suddenly I’m the boss of her, faced daily with her sparkling eyes and gummy worm obsession–and her infuriating refusal to stay away from me.

Well, I buried my feelings for her once before. I’ll do it again—to the nth degree.

©2023 Annika Martin (P)2024 Annika Martin

Idk…

I mustered through, but the female narrator was…not it. It was the sucking in of air at the end of each sentence. Ugh. Really wish Neva Nevarre narrated this one…

I am glad that Stella’s brother apologized and explained himself at the end.

Not my Favorite

I loved all of the other books in this series and when I saw this book I as out, I was so excited. Half the time I didn’t know what they were talking about. Maybe you have to be a math person to understand?? I committed to finishing it, but it was tough. I also wasn’t crazy about the female narrator.

It’s a storyline that is made from squishing together all of the previous storylines. But it’s still fun!

Like the title states, this was essentially a repeat of a bit of all of the previous books in this series. But I enjoyed it and still love the characters! I am always happy when precious protagonists come into the story, which is something Martin does well. Her books are fun, sappy, silly, serious, and a bunch of other in-between things. I re-read them often.

The narrators: I was hesitant to see a narrator change! I adore Nevar and Clark! But these two were absolutely perfect. I have added them to my list of favorites.

Excellent

Really great and well written. It’s not at all a rom com though, so just be aware. The first 6+ hours are actually kind of sad bc the FMC has a horrible self image and the female narrator has a voice that exemplifies that. Otherwise I really liked the story and the narrators did a great job. I love this series!

99% Rom, 1% Com - spinoff spins out

“You can’t eat a cheese ball alone!”
I was stoked to see what may be book 8 in the author’s Billionaires of Manhattan series. That series, especially books 1, 2, and 4, had a ton of humor and heat. Unfortunately, aside from a running gag about Stella’s fanatical love of cheese balls, these rest of the story was comedy free.

“Cheese ball shaming…”
I consider this more of a dramedy, where the humor feels more like laughing at, instead of with, the MCs. Much of the romantic barriers had to do with their character flaws. Stella was endlessly insecure and passive aggressive to the point where, despite crushing on him since childhood, she doggedly insists they can’t date and must stay in the just “tawdry” sex zone … and yet still asks personal questions and gets miffed at talk of his prior casual sexcapades. Hugh is written like he’s on the Autism spectrum to the point where’s he’s perpetually oblivious to other people’s feelings and approaches everything with mathematical, scientific precision. Her constantly calling him Mr. Roboto felt particularly mean-spirited.

“I will make you relent!”
The bond between them was sweet in a Rainman kind of way. Also touching was Hugh’s ability to find the perfect gift (even if his gift for her was trope-tastically predictable). The need for order making him bossy between the sheets made the naughty bits sort of steamy. At the same time, I think my failure to feel the comedy or the chemistry made the naughty bits sort of icky too … or maybe it was the overemphasis on him going down on her so much (there’s a lot of downtown tongue action).

“Like if Mothra and Godzilla joined a math club.”
Much of the story concerns business analytics, math, and statistics. It was sterile, unsexy, and I couldn’t relate at all. Meanwhile, for all the attention to blah, blah business mumbo jumbo, there was little attention to creating unique characters. The author’s formula from the original series is to pair a white, grumpy, socially-stunted male billionaire with a white, quirky, insecure-yet-quippy girl in a secretarial or artist occupation. The parents tend to be subpar. The friends provide the support system. And the series gets tied together with one or two scenes where the FMCs convene in the apartment building where the FMCs all live. Whether this is book 8 or a spin-off (I sense book 9 will feature Hugh’s boss, another grumpy white guy), it appears the formula is as firm as Hugh’s rules. That works for me when the comedy is strong and fizzles when the drama takes over.