The Charmer by Avi Rani
Biotech Billionaires series #4. Contemporary diverse romance. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Penelope Chen-Astor became a high-powered lawyer to escape her family’s expectations. But times up for her and she’s pressured to head home to Singapore and get married to a pre-selected groom that will benefit the family coffers.
Penelope doesn’t want to marry. At least not to the provided groom. Xander Sutton offers an alternative which turns their fake relationship to passion and feelings.

He falls first. A sexy premise that is enticing and steamy. High end deals, money, and brands I can never afford. That’s ok. It’s fun to read about it and know I’m probably more comfortable in casual and easy.
New York, Singapore and all right places, plus an enamored lover with lots of sex appeal and money to spend. Why not enjoy the ride?

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

"take me with you, or have adventures on your own and then come back to me...and not because i'm afraid to lose you - because i want to be with you, however you'll have me. my heart it yours. whether it is perfectly intact or riddled with cracks. so do your worst. break whatever you want. i'm not scared; i can take it."

this was so cute, a mix between crazy rich asians, suits, and gossip girl that also reminded me a little of the kings of sin series by ana huang (one of my favorites). honestly, the summary alone already told me this book would be up my alley, and i was not wrong. i really enjoyed seeing how xander and penelope's relationship developed and how they both grew as individuals. while it is an interconnected standalone, i did occasionally feel like reading the first two books would have made this one make more sense, especially in the beginning. additionally, the pacing did seem a bit inconsistent, slow at the start and a bit rushed at the end, but overall i still enjoyed the book and will likely read it again after reading the other books first.

the charmer, the final installment of the biotech billionaires trilogy, is available now! thank you to both ava rani and good girls pr for the arc! *this is my honest review and all thoughts, words, and opinions are my own*

The next book in the series, The Charmer was a solid read. This is my first book by this author and I would love to read her again. Xander and Poppy are both in business part of their careers. Xander being in the tech field and Poppy being a lawyer. Knowing each other through friends, they decide to fake date for a year to help Poppy get what she wants completed from her grandfather. Xander has always had a special thing for her. This was a cute read that made me laugh at times. The perfect marriage of convenience and fake dating with a strong FMC lead.

I received this ARC through the publisher and I am voluntarily reviewing this book, opinions are my own

I love this book. I love this series. I started with the audiobook of The Spare which got me excited about audiobooks. I immediately requested the charmer when I saw it on netgalley. I love all the characters and feel like I am in their friend group. Each character is so well rounded and relatable.This series is great for those wanted to read romance but wants more than romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Avon and Ava for the arc of The Charmer, out now!

This was my first read by Ava and I am so going back to read the rest of the series. The Charmer is book 3 in the BioTech Billionaire Series. I love me a billionaire romance, but more than anything, I LOVE a Marriage of Convenience. Add in a “My Wife” moment? It will be devoured by me! ‼️✨

This was like if Crazy Rich Asians and Gossip Girl had a child. Crazy Rich Asians is one of my favorite movies ever, add in some gorgeous spicy scenes and a steamy bucket list and here we are, The Charmer.

Penelope is the daughter of wealthy parents, and with that comes conditions she needs to follow…a condition where she needs to be married for a year to get her inheritance. So Xander comes into the picture. Xander is a man so down bad that when Penelope asks him to be her fake husband, he jumps at the opportunity to prove he’s good enough for her. The amount of angst in this book??? I love me some angst and yearning!

Ava did a beautiful job at blending in the black cat x golden retriever vibes with the scenarios they were put in. The story flowed well and I truly had a great time reading. Yes, even when I teared up at some parts because we had to touch on the heart.

I loved both Penelope and Xander separately as much as I loved them together. Penelope is strong and confident and Xander is loyal and a lover, add in their banter, they were psych a fun time!

Also the Spicy To-Do-List came with a Spicy NSFW art work that I am obsessed with😮‍💨🌶️ (you can find it on Ava’s page) I need you to find it, because it’s everything!!!

Thank you again for the arc, so excited to read more by Ava 🫶

- Marriage of Convenience
- Black Cat x Golden Retriever
- “My Wife”
- BANTER!
- Crazy Rich Asians x Gossip Girl
- Escaping a Controlling Family

I was expecting a light-hearted marriage of convenience book. But this book tackled a lot of big issues, and handled them all reasonably well. However, I found the relationship between Xander and Penelope to be a bit forced/underdeveloped. That could be on me for not reading the first two books in the series before this, but I suspect I’d still have that gripe.

I really enjoyed this one, although I wish I would have read the first two before this one so I had a better understanding of the relationships between the friend group I still didn’t feel lost during any of it. I loved the banter between Xander and Penelope and the pacing of this one felt so natural. This was a fun, easy read and I can’t wait to go back and read the first two!

Ava Rani does it again with such a swoony romance! Every time there is found family I know it is an Ava Rani book. She is unstoppable with her banter!

Penelope Chen is the heir to a Singaporean family wealth, and she has been betrothed to someone she grew up with for years. Building a career and life in New York was a way to live her life to the fullest before Duty called, but when it actually comes knocking and her mother's livelihood and comfort are contingent on her marriage, her hand is being forced.
Xander Sutton is the happy-go-lucky charismatic guy who seems to always have it together on the outside but feels misplaced and broken on the inside. Penelope has always intrigued him, so when the opportunity to pretend to be her fiancé arises, he plays into it. And when it turns out that actually marrying each other will save Pen from her betrothal, he says yes.
Entering a marriage of convenience was never part of his plan, but if it's the only way to keep her, he'll take it.
After they marry, they encounter a number of hurdles together, but it only brings them closer, and the attraction they feel for each other only grows until they can't fight it anymore and give in. They choose each other through all the turmoil and Ioved seeing both of them drop their defenses and give into their hearts.
Vikas and Rebecca were wonderful on this title, embodying these characters and bringing all their complexities to life. What a fun, rewarding way to finish this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and I read it in one day. I loved the storyline and the characters. I felt for the MC in her dilemma. I would definitely recommend this book.

The Charmer finishes off the Biotech Billionaires trilogy, but also there are several characters that I'm desperately hoping star in a feature in a spinoff to this trilogy because there are so many more stories to tell! But when the series began with The Spare, we were introduced to Marcus, Henry, Xavier, and Sloane, a group of four split between two sibling pairs, Marcus and Xavier and Henry and Sloane. Marcus and Sloane kicked us off in The Spare and watching them fall in love (or more accurately, admit their feelings to us and each other) was delightful. As was watching Henry fall hard and fast for Selena in The Heir because that man went from being extremely commitment avoidant to being like, "Hello, yes, she's the one, where is the ring?" And now, in The Charmer, we finally get Xavier's story. Xavier, the life of the party, with the past of overcoming a spiral into addiction after the death of his parents. Xavier who clings to the people he considers his family now because of that history. And who does he fall in love with? Penelope. Penelope who would really prefer not to be the center of attention, Penelope who keeps her walls up because her birth family is sort of toxic, Penelope who needs a husband and a residence in Singapore to secure her inheritance.

Watching these two fall in love was really, really lovely. First of all though, let me just say, if you like Ana Huang's Twisted series, you really should pick up this one. Rich people doing crazy rich people things feels like the vibes of this book. If you like a fantasy of rich people doing crazy rich people things that only they can get away with but also caring about the state of the world, this book and series could be for you. I really love the way both of these characters were able to express themselves and their feelings. I love the nickname Poppy. I love the way they both prioritize and really see the other. If the sentiment "to be loved is to be known" then I feel like you might absolutely adore the way this book sorts itself out. I also appreciate that despite my comparison to Ana Huang, this book clocks in at only 352 pages so a much more reasonable length for a contemporary romance than some of Huang's behemoths. Anyway, all in all, I have enjoyed this entire trilogy and I would absolutely recommend it to you if you're in the mood for a spicy good time! (Oh, speaking of, this book has a list. Two lists, actually. And you know I love a good checklist!!)

The Charmer by Ava Rani is pure bookish magic wrapped in tension, banter, and butterflies. This one had me grinning, swooning, and yelling at my Kindle—in the best way. If you're into enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and that delicious slow-burn that makes your heart ache a little, you're going to devour this.

The chemistry? Off the charts. The characters? Chaotic in the most lovable way. The vibes? Immaculate.

Highly recommend if you like your romance with spice, sass, and just a touch of emotional chaos.

Thank you very much to Ava Rani and Good Girls PR for this eARC!

I absolutely adored this book and wished I had read the series from the very beginning!

I went in thinking I would get a cute billionaire, marriage-of-convenience romance, and I got that, but so much more as well. The book addresses some surprisingly emotional issues, including family expectations, overcoming grief, and personal journeys. Despite these (at times) heavy subjects, the book never loses its lightness or sense of hope as the characters always bring that out (especially Xander!).

My favorite character, hands down, was Xander, a golden-retriever-lover boy, who was obsessed with Penelope from the very beginning. He was such a well-developed character, as he was able to maintain a sunny personality while still grappling with a traumatic past and its effects in the present. I can only hope that we all find a man as down-bad for us as Xander is for Penelope!

Overall, this is a phenomenal book that strikes a nice balance between cute and fuzzy vibes and deep human emotion and trauma. I will definitely be looking out for more work by Ava Rani!

Tropes:
- Billionaire
- Marriage of convenience
- Secret crush
- He falls first and harder
- Nicknames
- Goldenretriever MMC
- Broken heroes
- Found family
- 4 spice

This was my first time reading a book by this author and I was not disappointed. I loved every second of this.

ARC Read

Marriage of convenience
friends to lovers
found family


I loved every second of this. literally ate it up. Now this is book three I believe and it's the first for me for this author and I am so happy that I got the opportunity to read it because boy was it good.

Xander has been pining after Penelope for a while and when he catches her eith his family's ring on her finger and her 'betrothed' not taking a hint he steps in and they use that opportunity as her out.

Penelope has to be married in order to get her inheritance and her family will not let up.

Xander used their 'engagement' as an in with someone he wants to do business with so it becomes a marriage of convenience.

There was banter, Spice, drama, formed love and best of, NO THIRD ACT BREAK UP!

This book exceeded my expectations; it was such an amazing story, and the characters were so memorable. I was totally engaged throughout the entire novel.
The book was full of vivid descriptions and vivid imagery to the point where I felt like I had slipped into the pages.

The third installment of the biotech billionaires series - acquaintances (but perhaps feelings) to fake engaged to marriage of convenience to help with inheritance access.

I'm glad I picked up the first two prior to reading this one. While it could potentially be read as a stand alone, the found family aspect and things that are revealed about Xander [mostly] and the glimpses we have of Penelope make everything make a bit more sense if read sequentially. And it was fun to revisit the friend group, their love for each other and a little side of meddling and pranks.

I loved watching Xander and 'Poppy' fall from convenience to adoringly in loved. This was a great continuation of the series, some jet setting, some melt worthy moments and a little bit of love!






Thank you Netgalley, and Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review!

4.5⭐️ | 3.5🌶
Oh this might just be my favourite in the series! Xander & Penelope were everything I wanted out of Xander's book. The chaos, the emotions. I just love this group of friends and this world so much. I hated what Penelope's relatives put her through. I related to her and Arabella so that hit home. Whether this is the end of the Biotech Billionaires or we're getting Maya, Rohan and Tristan's books (maybe in a next series), it was a fantastic ending. I truly hope we do get the latter three's stories. And I'm living for these Bonus Epilogues. Thank you to HarperCollins, Netgalley and Good Girls PR for the arc.

This book was if Crazy Rich Asians met Suits - no but fr I enjoyed this so freaking much. From the arranged marriage which let me tell you Xander is so fine and swoonworthy but also Penelope was so Astrid coded and I loved it!!!

I swear Ava be creating her own Rani-verse of books cuz Imma be begging for multiple spinoffs!!!! Isa better be next but now I’m lowkey hoping for a Arabella book!!!

Also totally not rating this a gazillion stars cuz my name is in this book😎(totally counts even if it’s the wrong spelling).

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I’m so happy to have finally read Xander and Penelope’s story! I have been so excited to get Xander’s point of view ever since reading The Spare almost two years ago. And boy - did Ava deliver!

The last book in The Biotech Billionaires series centers on Xander, Sloan’s charming best friend who isn’t looking for anything serious. And although he keeps his relationships short and surface level, he can’t seem to stop thinking about Penelope. Penelope works with Sloan and while she’s part of her friend group, she hasn’t ever let herself get too close. But when the stipulations of her inheritance require her to get married by the end of the summer, she quickly realizes that she’s not okay with the plan set out for her and instead, leans on Xander to be her fake husband.

Penelope and Xander were EVERYTHING! I loved getting Xander’s inner thoughts and seeing just how down bad he was for Penelope. And the flashbacks to events from the first two books gave us so much more insight into who Xander is and how he dealt with grief. I also loved how Penelope found her strength throughout the book and prioritized her own happiness instead of everyone else’s. I absolutely loved this book and thought it was a fabulous way to wrap up the series. I can’t wait to see what Ava does next!

This was my first book in the series and I was a little skeptical coming into the series at book 3 but I didn’t feel that I was missing anything by not reading the others in the series. Xander and Poppy were so cute. I loved how attentive he was to her and how safe he made her feel. Poppy was so pragmatic in her thinking and I thought that would annoy me but surprisingly it didn’t. It made sense and honestly made everything much more believable at the end. It did feel like it dragged at times but overall a super cute read that gave Crazy Rich Asians vibes!

Thank you Good Girls PR, NetGalley and Ava Rani for the eARC