I wasn't sure which character I wanted to bean on the head more in this book from the lovely Jenna. How this woman can write characters that get right under my skin is beyond me, but she does it.
So you read the blurb and we have Lily who's father has just died, overprotected and as Austen-esque as her Masters degree thesis would carry. Jake who partnered with her father prior to his illness because the man had a way with building restoration and Jake wanted to learn from him.
Lily's father acquired some bad habits through his life although a very successful and shrewd businessman made a few very bad choices and of course didn't plan on getting sick. So he and Jake have some final business to tend to, mainly that of Lily. He makes Jake promise to look after her. Not a hardship for Jake since he's been taken with Lily since day one. Lily is petrified, knowing that everything she knows will never be the same and her fathers death will leave her with absolutely nothing. Not even the roof over her head or her Jane Austen books that line the shelves.
Jake swoops in to protect Lily from the vultures at the funeral who want photos and a story, to the incredible debt. He buys the house so she has a roof over her head and proposes to her. Gives the wilting flower a deadline. She's got a lot going on. She doesn't want to marry him so she negotiates a work type set up with him, to work at the business. He accepts that. Starting her in the basics so she learns every aspect of the business.
Jake has more women friends than you can shake a stick at and of course Lily thinks he's bopped every single one of them. There is one is particular in the story who is not only abrasive, she's rude, sleazy and I wanted to choke her egoistical bitch self on more than one occasion. So Jake, being the dick brain he is lets the insecure Lily think whatever she wants about this other woman and him. Even though there doesn't appear to be anything going on. Jake acts like a real putz throughout most of the book. Yes he does outwardly show signs of caring for Lily and by the same token shuts her right off. Talk about mixed signals.
The holidays are coming and they talk about them, Jake's grandmother lives in Hawaii so he suggests they go. He's got his mini agenda while there also. And once again Lily is faces with yet another woman who despite being his grandma's nurse is quite comfortable draping herself over Jake and Jake does nothing about it. Lily does speak up this time. Finally grows a lady pair.

Grandma was cool and I liked her best. She did give Lily some insight into Jake's past. There were still too many things that bothered me about Jake. I wanted him to man the hell up and stop jerking Lily around, she's got enough problems without him adding to her laundry list. The book on a whole was very much like Jane Austen and so Jenna you hit your mark on that!

**arc from NetGalley and Entangled**
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book for review. The above is my honest review and the opinions are mine alone**

This romance just didn’t do much for me. The heroine was so weak and tiresome that it was totally unbelievable that this dynamic, arrogant billionaire had been wanting her for so long and had been willing to shell out millions to help her out when her father died.

We meet her as Lily’s father has died and his whole empire had been exposed as built on sand. But Jake is willing to step in and help her out and just wants to marry her. Goodness knows why.

We’re told that she’s been working on her master’s thesis on Jane Austen. DId the author just pick Austen’s name out of a hat? I’d think that, if an author is going to be depicting a heroine enamored of Austen, we’d get some allusions to the novels or some indication that she has some of the wit in one of Austen’s novels. But no, it’s just name-dropping an author that romance readers will have heard of.

The hero is so very determined and arrogant about eventually marrying Lily, but can’t be bothered to tell her that he loves her and has always loved her. He allows her to think that he has no real feelings for her and plans to keep mistresses while they’re married. He recognizes that his attitude is making her hate him and the thought of marrying her, but can’t find a way to change this destructive path. I ended up wanting to smack both of them and tell them to stop being so stupid. It just wasn’t fun spending the time it took to read the book with these stupidly behaved people.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I received an ARC from NG for review.

This book was very different than I expected. Lily is the sheltered daughter of a man who lost all his money and has now died. Jake has been into Lily since he met her 2 years ago but he has to convince her to marry him, while she thinks he is having sex with this other woman.

There were aspects I HATED abut this story, like the other woman and how Jake makes things look sometimes. But I also liked Jake and I loved Lily and this was a very well written story.

I sometimes think Jake tries too hard, “if you want to be, I can make some calls, get you right back at the top of the list. As you should be. Whatever will make you happy. Just tell me, and it’s done." I really liked this book, although I thought Jake made more problems for himself than necessary.

This was not one of my favorites, I am sorry to say.
It was well written, just not for me.

Love this author. And this book is just as good as the rest.
Lily and Jake are a couple destined to be together but trust issues and jealousy are always in the way. Trust to let each other knowing the truth causes them much unneccessary heartache but eventually proves to be just the catalyst to push them together.

Lily Harris lost everything when her father died leaving her a mountain of debt. She realises all her ‘friends’ have disappeared except for Jake Tolliver, her father’s business partner. He goes to extreme lengths to care and protect her from the scandal but she can’t let herself trust him when he is surrounded by beautiful women. Jake promised her father to take care of Lily by marrying her but she can’t tie herself to someone who can’t love her. Well written story, I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this novel, but didn't always like the characters. Lily is a young woman who has been sheltered her entire life when her father dies, while Jake is a self made wealthy man who has set his sights on Lily as his future wife. Lily doesn't know how to solve the mess her life has become, but is sure that Jake isn't part of the solution.

I enjoyed the push/pull between the characters, but found myself wanting to reach into the book and shake some sense into them - from the naive Lily and her unrealistic outlook on life, to the antagonistic Jake who refuses to explain himself and creates or exacerbates so many of the problems.

This is a worthy read, but not my favorite by this author.

I expected a romantic comedy but this book was not in any way humorous. Both characters are incredibly damaged and both have insane amounts of baggage. In a real life scenario this would not end well. It wasn’t my favorite story but it was well written and well developed.

This is well written. It is not a particularly unique story, fake proposal, boss/ assistant situation.
It's worth a read of you like this troupe.

With the death of her dad Lily Harris feels her world as she has known it has ended. She is unaware that her father wanting to keep her protected has asked Jake Tolliver his business partner to marry her before he died. Jake has no problem with that as he has been secretly in love with Lily for years. However he finds it difficult to do as Lily doesn't believe he could be true to one person, believing he has mistresses. Jake's life was not an easy one so trust is his highest issue . He guards his feelings so his heart cannot be reached. He does all he can for Lili except admit he always loved her. Lili wants no part of it or so she believes. the journey for these two is a wonderful one and sometimes what we want is right before our eyes. Ms. Blake has a wonderful book here and not to be missed.

The strongest emotion I felt while reading, The Billionaire's Reluctant Fiancee, was mad. I was mad at Jake for not opening up and setting Lily straight. And at Lily for not trusting Jake when he's given her no reason not to. Only the end half of the last chapter actually shows them being happy.