The Fine Print
By: Lauren Asher
Published Year: 2021
Publisher: Bloom Books
Pages: 448
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Rowan
I'm in the business of creating fairy tales.
Theme parks. Production companies. Five-star hotels.
Everything could be all mine if I renovated Dreamland.
My initial idea of hiring Zahra was good in theory, but then I kissed her.
Things spiraled out of control once I texted her using an alias.
By the time I realized where I went wrong, it was too late.
People like me don't get happy endings.
Not when we're destined to ruin them.
Zahra
After submitting a drunk proposal criticizing Dreamland's most expensive ride, I should have been fired.
Instead, Rowan Kane offered me a dream job.
The catch? I had to work for the most difficult boss I'd ever met.
Rowan was rude and completely off-limits, but my heart didn't care.
At least not until I discovered his secret.
It was time to teach the billionaire that money couldn't fix everything.
Especially not us.
First Impressions
I heard about this series constantly on TikTok. Honestly, the cover didn’t appeal to me very much when I saw it digitally. In the store I was much more interested. I don’t know if I would’ve picked it amongst other more colorful covers, but it is unique. Honestly, what ended up convincing me to read it as that it was on a $5 shelf at a local bookstore!
What I thought
I can definitely see the appeal of this series and I wasn’t disappointed.
Rowan is the youngest of 3 boys who are heirs to the Dreamland fortune. When their grandfather passes away, he leaves them each a letter with conditions to how they would inherit their fortune. Rowan’s task is that he must present a life changing idea for Dreamland to a board in 6 months after working as the directory. While there, he meets and hires Zahra to help to create this idea. But he is surprised to find he is extremely attracted to her and feeling feelings he hasn’t felt in a long time.
This book is, obviously, the billionaires trope but also has some grumpy/sunshine as well. I wouldn’t say it’s quite enemies to lovers since Zahra likes Rowan pretty much immediately, but he definitely resists his feelings a lot longer than she resists hers. I appreciated the depth to this story that I didn’t expect. I didn’t realize that there was going to be a lot of backstory to Rowan’s childhood. However, this makes me look forward to reading the other two books in the series. Zahra’s character also had a bit of meat to her and her background which I also really enjoyed.
The one thing that felt a little odd at times is how much this book and Dreamland is supposed to be the Disneyland empire. I feel like if I was a little more of a Disney adult that I would’ve loved it more, but sometimes it took me out of the book. I also didn’t expect it Rowan’s company to be a Disney knockoff when I first picked up the book. Honestly, if I had known that I might’ve picked it up a bit quicker.
Rowan and Zahra have good chemistry. It is a bit insta-love for my tastes, but their banter made me like them a lot. This book is very spicy, so if you’re not into that then I would say don’t read this one. It was interesting that they kissed really early on but then didn’t kiss again for a while. I liked that it showed they had that physical attraction but that wasn’t the basis for their relationship.
This book was a solid 3.5 romance read for me. I liked the couple a lot as well as the background for the characters. It also is a series I want to continue. Something about the book wasn’t a full home run for me, but it was still very enjoyable and didn’t feel like a 450 page book. If you like spicier romance novels with a grumpy/sunshine trope this would be a solid book to pick up. I can’t wait to see what happens next!