Ava Rani made me a billionaire romance fan 🥰 The Charmer is the third interconnected standalone in the Bio Tech Billionaires series, and I think it might be my favorite of the three! Give me forced proximity + marriage of convenience and I am one happy girl!!!

Penelope is fierce and strong. I loved how confident and witty she is. The way she bantered with Xander!! Xander is my favorite kind of MMC — quiet, loyal, and deeply pining for his girl !!

Something I really love about Ava is that she gives her readers a good, well-rounded ending. We get to experience the happy for a bit longer, and also an epilogue!!

Thank you Avon for the ARC!

I absolutely love this series. The romance is done just right and has a great flow to the story line. I enjoy being able to catch up on what other MCs form the books before are up to and how their lives intertwine.

3.5 Stars The Charmer is the third book in Ava Rani’s Biotech Billionaires series and can easily be read as a standalone romance!

Penelope Chen-Astor has never felt like she belonged in her family and ran away from Singapore to work as a lawyer in Manhattan. Familial duty comes calling when her grandfather’s will states that in order for Penelope to receive her inheritance and her mother to retain her assets, Penelope must be married for a year and purchase a home in Singapore. Penelope doesn’t want to marry the man her family has selected for her, but luckily Xander Sutton, her friend and billionaire co-founder of an investment group, agrees to stand in as her husband for a year. Xander is endlessly charming and has been harboring feelings for Penelope for years. They both easily fall into married life and their fake marriage soon feels very real. Soon, meddling relatives and corporate espionage threaten the foundation of their relationship. Will Penelope and Xander be left standing when the year is over?

Though I haven’t read the other books in this series, The Spare and The Heir, I can’t wait to read them now. I couldn’t resist picking up The Charmer because I love a good marriage of convenience and billionaire romance. This was a great story and reminded me of Crazy Rich Asians (Penelope definitely has Astrid vibes). Despite being an heiress, Penelope is so down to earth and guarded due to her father’s side of the family rejecting her after her parents’ divorce. Xander is a fantastic partner to Penelope but has his own baggage that he must overcome after facing loss earlier in his life. Overall, a great read!

Thanks Ava Rani and Avon for the ARC! The Charmer releases May 13th!

I looooooved this book! While I am not always a fan of fake dating, the marriage-of-convenience trope is almost always a winner for me. As soon as I started the first book in this interconnected series, I knew I would eat Xander's story right up. And it did not disappoint! I just really love Xander, and think he was so well written. This book comes out on May 13th, and if you haven't checked out this series yet, this is your sign to do so!

Penelope is hit with a tough decision in the first part of the book with her inheritance: She must be married and she must buy land in Singapore. The land she can do but the marriage part is where she is struggling, her family for business benefit has arranged a marriage with another family and lets just say the man is not who she wants to live her life with. When Xander comes in to save the day and marries her to save her, a bit of drama ensues.

Ava’s story The Charmer gave me such Crazy Rich Asian vibes and was a fun read. As a recovering people pleaser myself, it was relatable to see Penelope struggle with finding herself and her voice towards her family. One of my favorite micro tropes is in this read so you know I am going to instantly love it! The micro trope is when the FMC is seen by the MMC when she doesn’t think others notice. Again a fun read and if you love Billionaire Romances and a book with Communication this is for you!

Tropes: Billionaire Romance, Marriage of convenience, Friends to Lovers, Golden Retriever & Black Cat, Found Family

Spice Level: A Spicy Margarita that I did not realize was in here!

Genre: Contemporary romance

Book Pub Date: May 13 2025

Thank you Netgalley, Avon, & Harper Voyager for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

My favourite tropes: Marriage of Convenience & Enemies to Lovers

This would've been a 5 but there were too many characters to keep track of. Within the first 5 pages you were introduced to a dozen characters - 2 brothers, a brother and sister, the main character, their friends etc... Plus they all had super pretentious names. I enjoyed the plot and Penelope bucket list was a great touch.

This was my first Ava Rani read, and it absolutely did not disappoint! I’m such a sucker for a billionaire romance, and The Charmer was right up my alley. If you love Crazy Rich Asians vibes or are a fan of Ana Huang’s books, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up.

Penelope is struggling to meet the conditions of her inheritance — she must get married and buy a house in Singapore. Enter Xander, who swoops in to save her from an engagement she didn’t want. What starts as a fake engagement quickly spirals into a real wedding. No big deal — they just have to stay married for a year, right? Simple… or maybe not.

I loved seeing Penelope’s growth as she learns to stand up for herself and figure out what she truly wants. Plus, the banter and chemistry between Penelope and Xander? Top tier. The spice level was absolutely perfect and kept me hooked the entire way through.

Overall, this was such an enjoyable and addictive read! Huge thanks to the author and publishers for the opportunity to read this early. I can’t wait to read more from Ava Rani in the future!

Although they are all sitting in my TBR pile this is the first book I've read from Ava Rani's Biotech Billionaires series. As a fan of friends to lovers and fake relationship tropes. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to go back and read the first two books of the series, I'm sure you'll love Xander just as much as I did.

Oh the drama!!! It all started with an inheritance… there is a lot of intertwined family dynamics in this book that has me rolling my eyes a little bit but I enjoyed it. The MMC was absolutely adorable and the FMC was strong in what she wanted so the growth was great. The family on the other hand… what a mess! But money and business aside it’s kinda relatable lol this is my first time reading this author and I’d definitely read more. 3.5 stars.

-Billionaire Romance
-Marriage of Convenience
-Fake Marriage
-Friends to Lovers

This was my first novel by Ava Rani and I wasn’t disappointed. I will probably go back and read the first two books in the series since I enjoyed this one so much. This story has Crazy Rich Asian vibes, but it’s also different. Xander and Poppy have feelings for each other from the beginning, but Poppy was in an arranged marriage in order to claim her inheritance. Eventually she decided to defy her family and do something for herself, and Xander helped her with this plan. Sparks ended up flying.

I really enjoyed their story and seeing Poppy stand up for herself with her family. I loved the way that Xander protected her all the way through, but also let her do things on her own when she needed to. I loved watching them both grow into their feelings for one another and exploring what their relationship could be.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-arc.

I fell in love with Xander in The Spare and couldn't wait for his own book. His relationship with the rest of the crew (Sloane, Marcus, and Henry) was adorable and amusing. Love a prankster. He won my heart.

I typically go in blind when I trust an author and her series, so a marriage of convenience was a delightful discovery. It's one of my favorite tropes.

Their path into their marriage is cute and unexpected. The whirlwind romance they create in the media to justify their quick courtship and engagement is just the frenzy they need to break down the walls they've used to hide their feelings for each other. Throw in the forced proximity that comes with moving in together, and you've got a great recipe for ooey gooey tension.

This story gives Crazy Rich Asians vibes. But instead of watching a relationship fall apart, we watch one build from the ground up. While acting like a couple, they are able to express the feelings they've been holding back. The affection, the flirtation, the chemistry that they've kept a leash on has an avenue for expression. Xander can call her Poppy. She can call him darling. They can kiss and hold each other in public. They learn how to be themselves with each other. They learn how to be vulnerable with each other.

This book contained more billionaire style grand gestures. The purchasing of art collections, buildings, companies. It's a lot of money that got thrown around. Not just for the sake of money. They were all done with intention. They were personal gestures. But if using your money as power is something that gives you an ick, just be aware.

I'm just gonna pause here and say that I was not expecting that golden retriever Xander would turn into such a dominating force in the bedroom. Holy smokes! I am obsessed. All his "my wife" energy gets unleashed in the intimacy and I am SO here for it!

This whole trilogy was a delight. The found family that we are introduced to in The Spare and continues through The Heir and The Charmer. I am rooting for these friends. I want more!

Thanks to the publisher for a ecopy of the book for a hinest feedback.

I absolutely love the The Charmer. I really loved Xander and how charming he is and this book intrigued me enough to pick the prior 2 books in the series.
Xander is in love with Penelope and had been for a while but she's kinda shy. And they have a
Marriage of convenience.
I loved this book mainly for Xander's personality and how lovely he is to people in his life. He goes out of the way for Penelope all the way to Hong Kong to fix issues for her wit her family and it was lovely to see diverse characters in a billionaire setting. Also, loved Xander 4 horsemen of the apolocalypse.
I also love a friend group that is super invested in seeing Xander happy..
I definitely enjoyed this book a lot and will be keeping an eye for ava rani's books.

This book was fine - I don’t really think billionaire romances are for me though. There really didn’t seem to be any tension in the story, and when there was they just threw money at it or did illegal stuff to make it go away. I liked the marriage of convenience aspect though

Thank you netgalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.

This book was a decent one-time read. To be honest, I skimmed through a good portion of it after the halfway mark because the story started to lose direction after 50%.

The beginning was interesting and pulled me in. The plot centered around a marriage of convenience and I actually liked how that part was handled. But once the Penelope and Xander got married, things started to fall apart.

First of all, there was no proper buildup showing how Penelope and Xander fell in love. The flashbacks and past references were very surface-level and didn’t really add much to their love story. One moment they were just sleeping together and the next they were suddenly in love. It was also mentioned multiple times that they had chemistry and feelings for each other before the arrangement, but we never actually saw those moments. They were just told to us.

I expected Penelope to be a strong female lead based on the synopsis, but she didn’t live up to that. I understand how much family trauma can affect someone, but even that part of her character felt underdeveloped. There was no real backstory to support her actions, which made her seem weak and messy at times.

Xander was definitely a sweet and devoted guy, but honestly, most of what he did felt like the bare minimum. His inner monologues about how he couldn’t lose Penelope didn’t make much sense either, because we never got to see the actual journey of him falling in love with her.

The only part that truly grabbed my attention was towards the end, maybe the last 3-4 chapters. That’s when the story finally picked up. I really wish the author had explored both Penelope’s and Xander’s traumas in more depth, it would’ve made their connection more believable and meaningful. I don’t usually pay much attention to nicknames, but what the hell is ‘Poppy’? Especially during the smut scenes like, seriously? It was so awkward.

That said, I did enjoy some of the fluffy scenes between them. The moments with their friends were super adorable and the jealousy scenes added a fun touch too.

I absolutely devoured this book. Mind you this one was the only one I read (apparently it’s a whole standalone series in the same world? but I was able to follow along with no trouble), but I absolutely loved it! This was my first time reading a book with fake marriage and I think it’s my new favorite trope to read?! Listen if you want a story with a rich man who has been secretly (but not really bc he pines for her in like the first few chapters.) been in love with FMC who is absolutely the most jealous man alive this book is for YOU. The way I couldn’t stop reading because it was too good to put down!! Also the girlie gang friendship is so wholesome I really loved it! My only qualm was that I wish I got to see the MMC year a bit more. There was a turn of events earlish on and I wish it happened a little later so I can see him yearn/agonize a little bit more BUT that is just a personal preference and has nothing to do with the book! I think I found a new favorite author to read!!

The Charmer is absolutely a fitting title for this book, I am fully entranced. I absolutely fell in love with this book! I will admit it was a bit slow to start for me but when things picked up they really picked up!
Marriage of convenience is one my favorite tropes and while normally I want the wedding in the first ten pages it was refreshing to see that it was not rushed and takes it time to show Penelope and Xander's lead up to what for many is the most important day of their lives. I am also a big fan of when the setting of the book almost appears as a side character as well as a backdrop and this story does it well. Bouncing along New York City, The Hamptons and Singapore, you see how all three places are to keys to understanding Penelope and are a clever way to present her past, present, and future. While on the surface to many she seems quiet and reserved if a little grumpy, this book does a great job at not making her one dimensional and show all the reasons why she is the way she is. After all, the weight of the world (or at least her mother's world) is balancing on her left ring finger. As for Xander what can I say? I am a sucker for a man who is so clearly down bad for his love interest and he is the most of them all. I also really loved that he has a track record of being caring and kind to those in his life and no better example is shown than his relationship with Sloan. He's always a doting friend ready to help her out on what is to be the most important day of her life. Their friendship to me was a great way to highlight the more subtle qualities he possess that make a big impact in how he interacts with Penelope. Their relationship was a shining case of invisible string theory and the way it unfolds throughout the book is art. Seeing them together was not only funny and cute but also incredibly endearing in a way that makes you want to get closer with your own loved ones. The way Xander loves her is unmatched and beyond her faux grumpy attitude Penelope is eating it up.
My only minor gripe is that I did go into this blind and I do wish I would have read the first two books in the series as this book is very much interconnect with the stories of the other couples in the other books. I will definitely go back and enjoy them because after this I am officially an Ava Rani fan.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyage and NetGalley for this arc.

This was a very cute romance and a lovely end to the series. The FMC was a strong character and the MMC is very charismatic and CHARMing. There is some spice but it doesn’t over power the story line. Overall, very good book..

⭐⭐⭐⭐
tropes:
black cat x golden retriever
billionaire romance
"my wife"
marriage of convenience
he falls first (and hard)
Crazy Rich Asian x Suits


Book #3 in the Biotech Billionaires Series
Xander gets his HEA finally! He’s a genius billionaire, co-founder of Dawn Capital investment group. As the comedic, caring, glue that holds this friend group together. It was nice to find out more of his backstory. He’s romantic and caring and in it for the long haul.
Penelope, or Poppy to Xander, is a lawyer in the same firm as Sloan. She needs to get married by the end of summer to secure her inheritance and protect her family. But that family has never seemed to protect her. She has a s*x list and a bucket-list that he makes happen.
This gave me Crazy Rich Asians meets Suits vibes and was my favorite of the series to read! I would have loved if the ending dove deeper into Penelope's family. It seemed to wrap up too quickly.

What you can expect to find in The Charmer:
-marriage of convenience
-billionaire romance
-banter
-🌶🌶🌶
-Crazy Rich Asian vibes

Penelope Aster-Chen realizes very quickly that in order to have access to her inheritance she needs to be married for a year. She doesn't really want to go pack to Singapore and deal with her family's expectations. She's quite happy living her life away from them and their expectations.

Xander Sutton knows how to charm everyone around him...except for Penelope it seems. When he discovers that Penelope will need a husband for a year to gain her inheritance he doesn't even hesitate. With them becoming entangled with one another will this marriage be on paper only or will their feelings make it into a true marriage?

Listen - if there's one thing I love it's a marriage of convenience. I literally read the first half of this book almost in one sitting. While this was my first book by Ava Rani and I jumped in the series without reading the first 2 books - it was easy enough to follow along. I LOVED Xander and his Where are we going Poppy? Gah he was so gone for his Poppy.

I do feel like the last 1/3 of the book lost me a little. There was a lot happening and I'm not sure that the third act breakup was really warranted. I wanted more angst and longing from Xander and Penelope - I feel like I got some of that in the first half of the book, but not enough towards the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this billionaire workplace romance.

Such a great book! I took very long to read, however I liked that I was captivated in the best way possible. The love that Penelope & Xander happened to connect through each other's pasts. Xander was not willing to sacrifice Penelope and really saw a solution to her problem. Marriage of convince and if that meant she could put herself first, he'd risk it all. I loved that Penelope tired to make NY & Singapore work with her long-lost family & her connected family (friends & etc.) While I didn't read the first book, please note I will do so now! But, also that this book can be a standalone!