Book Review: My Billionaire Fake Fiancé by Heidi Rice

My Billionaire Fake Fiancé is written by Heidi Rice and is the second novel in her mini series Billionaires After Dark. 

Introduction:

Orla Calhoun is the heroine of this novel. She is working frantically to try and save her family’s an Irish stud farm and the last 6 horses. Her father ran their family business into the ground, died and now she is trying to salvage what she can. She is rather socially awkward, more comfortable around animals than people. Sheikh Prince Karim Jamal Amari Khan is planning to buy the stud farm but is also in need of a fake fiancé as his father is pestering him to get married. He realises he could kill to birds etc. Orla becomes his fake fiancé, keeps a c connection to the farm whilst Karim owns it. Of course this doesn’t go to plan and there is chemistry between the unlikely pair but will it lead to a HEA?

Review: 

The novel is written in the first person, each chapter focusing upon the thoughts, view point etc of either Orla or Karim, I don’t particularly gravitate toward novels written this way as I find it difficult to gel with the characters. I can, however, see the skill it takes to do this properly and the characters still engaged and interested me in the storyline. The storyline itself isn’t innovative: Irish stud farm losing money, bought out by very rich prince etc but in this case it didn’t feel like an overdone trope. The whole novel was engaging, with cgg uc stackers that were well thought out. The storyline didn’t drag and I enjoyed the novel much more than I thought I would. I do recommend this book and I will reread it in the future. 

I received this book via Booksprout and Heidi Rice in exchange for a honest review. #gifted

Win Swarovski 100 Years of Disney Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck Pendant

This is the landing page for my Swarovski 100 Years of Disney Donald & Mickey competitions. You are welcome to enter both or just one competition. The competition is open worldwide. Good luck to you all. 

#win Swarovski 100 Years Disney Mickey Mouse Pendant, White, Rhodium Plated Necklace

Win Swarovski 100 Years of Disney Donald Duck Pendant (£119)

Swarovski 100 Years of Disney; Mickey and Donald Pendants

Who Is … Swarovski ?

 

This is the first foray in to my new series “who is …..” . Each post will look at a well known jewellery brand, where it came from, it’s history and is it still around etc. the next post will have a prize or two from that brand. My first post will look at Swarovski,  the largest jewellery brand in the world. .

Daniel Swarovski founded the Swarovski company in 1895. It is a family owned and run business, employing over  29,000 employees in over 170 countries with over 3,000 shops. Their products fall into 3 categories: Swarovski Crystal Business which covers jewellery, they are the biggest jewellery company worldwide, crystals, rhinestones, glass ornaments and accessories;Swarovski Optik which makes telescopes and telescopic sights for rifles and binoculars and Tyrolit which manufactures and sells grinding and drilling tools. 

Daniel Swarovski was born in 1862 in a small village in Northern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). He trained as a glass cutter and in 1892 patented a cutting machine that creates crystal glass. 

In 1885 Swarovski, financier Armand Osmann and Franz Weis established Swarovski which was originally called A Osmann, D Swarovski and Co, shortened to to KS & Co,  they established a crystal cutting factory in Wattens, Austria. In 1919 Tyrolit was established bringing together all the grinding and cutting machinery from the crystal business into a wider market.  In 1935 Swarovski’s son, Wilhelm adapted a pair of binoculars and in 1949 Optik was born. 

Obviously it is not fair to look a the history and origins of Swarovski without considering where they were situated and the dates. Tyrol/ Wattens supported Nazism and Hitler, there was a march there in 1938 and at least 6 of the Swarovski family were ardent supporters of the then illegal party prior to the annexation of Austria in 1938. 

Swarovski benefitted from their support for Nazi Germany, the size of the company almost doubled during the war period and it expanded its product lines to include telescopes, binoculars and other optical devices for example. Swarovski has not granted historians access to their files so the true extent of their support for Hitler and the benefits gained from this is not known. 

So from this brief history, Swarovski’s history is rather murky. It is the largest jewellery brand in the world but although it is famous and well known for crystals it has success in other areas too. 

GemeShou Green Necklace Display Stand

 

I have been considering purchasing a necklace display for a while as I don’t always want to show myself wearing the item, especially if it’s a prize that I want to give unworn. I finally settled on a Gemeshou display (£15). I have purchased/reviewed several of their jewellery display items and have always found them good quality and reasonably priced. This piece was no exception.

The stand is gold metal, slightly curved to give the chain that will be displayed some dimension and show how it will look curved against the body. I chose the dark green stand. It is also available in cream, grey and black. The stand itself is gold metal and the green cover is velvet which adds to the lux effect. It measures 7x9.5x5cm. It is also has a pouch at the back of the stand to store the chain so it doesn’t get tangled just dangling over the back of the stand. The stand is quite compact but as I sometimes need to take it with me if I want to take shots for my blog outside I think that’s great as it fits nicely into my props bag. I like the stand for my blog photos as the velvet means there isn’t any reflected light from the material and the overall effect/ look is expensive and elegant, I will also purchase the matching earring stand so I can use the set in future blog posts.  Overall i would recommend this item. 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this post are my own. 

Halloween Themed Classic Canes Bats At Night Derby Walking Stick

 Repost: I haven’t purchased and reviewed a walking stick for years but this walking stick is my most used stick during Autumn /Winter time. 

The Bats at Night walking Stick (£46) is adjustable, collapses into four pieces and comes in a protective pouch. My stick looks slightly strange in the photo as I had a piece removed (I am only 4ft 7”). There are black bats, tree silhouettes, orange and yellow stars on a greyish background. Depending on the lighting and background the grey takes on a lavender tint.  The stick comes with a black non slip ferrule and a chrome collar. The colours aren’t exactly the same between the handle of the cane and the shaft (not a design flaw but due to the different materials used to make the stick) and I think that adds to the spookiness of the design. The derby shaped handle is comfortable to hold and the height of the stick is easy to adjust, just press the silver buttons at the top of the shaft and slide to the height you want. Without having any adjustments made to the walking stick it is adjustable from 79cm to 89cm.

I enjoy using this stick. The theme and graphics are really cute and eye catching. I shall continue to use it when Halloween is over! 

His Christmas Princess by Scarlet Wilson

 His Christmas Princess by Scarlet Wilson is part of Mills & Boon Modern Christmas themed novels. 

Valmora has a huge problem- lack of an heir to replace the dying King. His son had died years ago without producing the obligatory heir. Raphael, Chief of Royal Staff had been tasked with trying to find one. He has resorted to using an Ancestory DNA type website. Charlotte Armstrong, cybersecurity consultant comes up as a match. Her royal lineage can be traced back to Mary Boleyn and more recent descendants such as King Charles. Raphael tracks Charlotte to a coffee shop and tells her that Valmora needs her to become Queen otherwise the country will revert back to France. She agrees to visit incognito to see if she is willing to give up her comfortable life for a life of public service.

There is an attraction between the pair throughout the novel and Raphael fights against it as he trains her to be Royal whilst sticking to the cardinal rule: don’t fall for the Princess. As Christmas approaches they become closer? but will they get the ultimate Christmas present? Their Happily Ever After!

This novel was very meh for me. I don’t particularly enjoy novels that merge fact and fiction, no matter how small the detail. Referencing DNA links to historical and recent royals spoilt the tone and premise of the book. The book was, however, well through out  and I enjoyed that Charlotte was confident,  had her own successful career and wasn’t a simpering heroine, grabbing a chance at a better life. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted