In the Heir by Ruth Cardello
Narrated by Teri Clark Linden
Series: Westerly Billionaire #1
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: May 23, 2017
Date Read: August 31, 2018
Length: 7 hours 46 minutes
Source: Kindle Unlimited
★★★★☆
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ruth Cardello returns with an irresistible series about sexy billionaires and the strong-willed women who tame them.
Brett Westerly is his father’s golden child, but it’s come at a cost. As head of the family corporation, he throws himself into his work—hiding in his office is easier than confronting the reality of his broken family.
After a bitter divorce that split the family and divided loyalties, the wealthy Westerly matriarch offers an early inheritance to any grandchild who marries and invites the entire family to the wedding. Brett’s brother Spencer rashly gets engaged, and Brett knows it’s his duty to intervene. But he never imagined the unwelcome desire Spencer’s fiery fiancée would spark in him. Now the man who’s used to getting everything he could want has met the one woman he can’t have.
Ever since she was a girl, Alisha Coventry considered Spencer and his sister Rachelle the family she didn’t have. When Spencer asks for her help, Alisha has no problem becoming his fake fiancée—until she meets Spencer’s sexy older brother Brett. The chemistry between them is undeniable—forbidden—but as their relationship deepens, Brett is determined to have her.
Alisha only wanted to help the family make amends. Now she’s falling for the wrong Westerly.
My Review
I really enjoyed this audiobook. This was my first experience with Ruth Cardello’s writing and I am very happy that it turned out to be a positive one. I actually won a copy of the second book from the series but decided that I wanted to start at the beginning which turned out to be a very good choice. I ended up listening to the book in only a couple of days because I was having such a good time with it.
I went into this book expecting a romance and it did deliver on that expectation but I was surprised that the story surrounding the Westerly family would be such an important element in the story. When Delinda Westerly offers an early inheritance to the first grandchild who marries and invites the rest of the family, Spencer and his friend, Alisha, make plans to walk down the aisle. They are not in love but are great friends so they see no problem with the arrangement.
Brett meets Alisha through Spencer and can’t get her out of his mind. Alisha isn’t afraid to stand up to the anyone and does just that when it can protect those that she cares about. When everything falls apart, Brett is the one who is there for Alisha and I loved watching their connection to each other grow. I thought that these two characters worked really well together and I liked how they seemed to bring out the best of each other.
Terri Clark Linden did a great job with this book. I thought that she handled a pretty diverse cast of characters very well and brought a lot of emotion to the story. I have listened to her work several times and have always found her narration to be very pleasant to listen to.
I would recommend this book to romance fans. I thought that this story was really compelling and filled with wonderful characters. I plan to read much more from Ruth Cardello in the future.
Up for Heir by Ruth Cardello
Narrated by Teri Clark Linden
Series: Westerly Billionaire #2
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: November 14, 2017
Date Read: September 7, 2018
Length: 7 hours 28 minutes
Source: Kindle Unlimited (also won ebook in Goodreads giveaway)
★★★★☆
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ruth Cardello puts two hearts on the line when a Boston billionaire takes a second chance on the woman of his dreams.
Spencer Westerly is his own man. He didn’t need his father’s money to build his wildly successful tech company—and he doesn’t want to deal with the fallout from old family secrets. But as much as Spencer wants to avoid Westerly drama, his grandmother—the family matriarch—is determined to pull him back into the fold. And she’s discovered the perfect lure: his college sweetheart, Hailey.
Although she broke his heart, Hailey is still the only woman he’s ever loved. Now that she’s back and looking as desirable as ever, Spencer is determined to get a second chance.
A lot has changed for Hailey Tiverton. The only thing that hasn’t? The inexplicable pull she feels toward Spencer. When they were younger, his work was his priority. Now, he’d better be willing to prove that, this time, love comes first…
My Review
This really was a great romance! After finishing the previous book from this series, I couldn’t wait to find out more of Spencer’s story. This really is a series that needs to be read in order since the plot surrounding the family starts in the first book. I had a great time listening to this story.
Spencer was one of the focal points of the previous book which left him at a very low point in his life. I couldn’t wait to find out how he was doing and hopefully watch him deal with some pretty big issues. Hailey has also been through a lot. She lost her father years ago and just recently lost her brother. She is now the guardian of her niece, Sky, and has to make that the priority in her life.
Hailey takes a job as Delinda Westerly’s personal assistant and her and Sky move into the guest house at her home. She has no idea that her employer is in any way related to her old boyfriend, Spencer. Of course, their paths cross and they end up spending some time with each other and quickly find out that their attraction to each other is just as strong as it ever was.
I had a great time watching Hailey and Spencer fall in love all over again. I also enjoyed getting to know Delinda Westerly a lot better and found that the relationships between Delinda, Sky, and Hailey were very well done. I thought that Spencer’s relationship problems with his family were dealt with very well in this book. Spencer grew a lot as a character by the end of this story.
Terri Clark Linden continued to do a great job with this series. Her voices for the various characters in this series are very well done. In this book, there was a lot of dialogue from Delinda, an elderly character, and Sky, a young child, and I thought she represented all of the characters very well. I can’t wait to listen to more of this series.
I would recommend this series to fans of contemporary romance. There is a lot of depth to the relationships within this story and a romance that melted my heart. I can’t wait to read more about the Westerly family.
Westerly Billionaire Series
Book #2 – Up for Heir
Book #3 – Royal Heir
Book #4 – Hollywood Heir
About the Author
Ruth Cardello is a New York Times bestselling author who loves writing about rich alpha men and the strong women who tame them. She was born the youngest of eleven children in a small city in northern Rhode Island. She’s lived in Boston, Paris, Orlando, New York, and Rhode Island (again) before moving to Massachusetts, where she now lives with her husband and three children. Before turning her attention to writing, Ruth was an educator for two decades, including eleven years as a kindergarten teacher.
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Lol those titles! But yes it must be good if you went for more, I hope the next two are good too
I am looking forward to both of them!
I like the whole ends-to-a-means plot in the first book, and LOVE the second chance romance plot of the second book. I haven't read too many businessman-millionaire series, but these sounds really great.
There are people in the series with money but it is really such a minor part of the story. Most of the family are just regular folks which was great.
Good instinct to get the first book so you could get the whole situation with the family before getting into the romances. I've noticed this series around and wondered. I think I have a different one of her books. Now, I'll be more willing to jump in.
I had a great time with it, Sophia Rose!
Both of those sound really good. I love a book that gives me even more than I'm expecting.
I really loved how so many relationships were important to the story.
These do sound good. I could use a good heart melting romance. It's been a rough week.
I hope your week is looking better now. Sometimes a good romance is just the thing.
I always prefer to read any series in order. I'm glad to hear there is depth to the characters and relationships. I'm Off billionaire stories since how realistic is it? I like a bit more ordinary, realistic people. Anne – Books of My Heart
The money part of this series is really very minor. Brett and Alisha really did act like normal people. Brett has money and did spend it on Alisha but he was so down to earth that it didn't seem like a big deal.
I love billionaire tropes. These sound good, glad you enjoyed them.
Thank you!
I haven't heard of this series, but the covers are disturbing… where is the rest of his face? Why is his face chopped in half on every cover? I think he could have scooted back, or they could have zoomed the camera out a little. 😉
A story that melted your heart… hmm. You've piqued my interest!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?
I kind of like the covers 🙂
i'd gather the family has 4 boys to write about? sounds interesting, but i am only interesting in the first one because it looks more dramatic
There are 3 boys but a few sisters as well. I think that the next book is about one of the sisters.
These sound like good romances and I like that there are some plots that weave through the series. Great reviews!
I did have a great time seeing how their relationships progressed. I can't wait to get to books 3 and 4!