Hardworking Australian nurse Ben Adams inherits a substantial sum and decides to tour Europe. In Monaco, the home of glamour and the idle rich, he meets French billionaire playboy Léo Artois. After getting off on the wrong foot—as happens when one accuses a stranger of being part of the Albanian mafia—their attraction blazes. Léo, born to the top tier of society, has never known limits, and Ben, used to budgeting every cent, finds it difficult to adjust to not only Léo's world, but also the changes wealth brings to his own life.
As they make allowances for each other's foibles, Ben gradually appreciates the finer things, and Léo widens his perspective. They both know one thing: this is not a typical holiday romance and they're not ready to say goodbye.
Ben Adams is an RN who specializes in home health care for the terminally ill and was recently left a large sum of money by a patient after caring for her during the last years of her life. Ben is used to weighing everything he does or buys on merit and worth and is shocked when he is left the money. He’s used to buying his clothes in second hand or discounted stores and wearing them until they are threadbare or ready to be tossed and doesn’t factor traveling into his budget due to cost. But his last patient, Mrs. K, had talked about her favorite places to travel and Ben is now honoring her memory by traveling to them himself. While in Monaco eating the best ice cream ever, Ben sees a trio of men entering a casino who attract everyone’s attention but one in particular catches Ben’s fancy. Ben decides he has to meet this man and sets about buying the right outfit to get into the club.
Léo Artois is at the casino with his cousin Malik playing babysitter to their young cousin Karim who wants to experience all that is Monaco. Malik teases Léo about the young man who caught Léo’s eye as he quite enthusiastically licked ice cream off a spoon and nicknames him “bunny” because Léo eyed him as prey. When said bunny enters the casino looking lost but eager, Léo sets upon meeting the young man and possibly getting to know him better.
This took a bit for me to get into. I am new to the author’s writing and the first meeting with Ben and Léo felt awkward for me. Honestly the first few chapters were rough waters but the morning after their date, when Ben gets Léo’s note and talks to his best friend Danika about his romantic movie-eqsue encounter it started to smooth out. Ben’s lunch date that afternoon with Léo helped the things feel more cohesive and I started to see a connection between the men.
We get both POV’s in this story and it made for a sweet read. Ben being a self-proclaimed dork that intensifies when Léo comes around is endearing. I remember when I was 18 and had the biggest crush on a boy named Sol who worked in the department next to mine. I swear, every time I talked about him to my BFF/co-worker with heart eyes, she would get this look on her face and I knew he was standing right behind me. The smile and wink he would give me would make my brain short circuit and we won't even talk about the times I actually talked to him and ended up complimenting how good he looked when he was just freaking about not wearing a tie that day. Ugh. So yeah, I get being all thumbs and losing your tongue when a hot guy comes around.
You look at him like he’s edible, which doesn’t surprise me, but also like he makes your day better. He babbles, and you smile indulgently. It’s… surprising. Not bad, really, but surprising.
Getting Léo’s POV was a definite plus for me as I loved seeing this notable playboy billionaire who had the world at his feet fall for Ben simply because he was being himself. Léo’s finds what Ben would consider faults about his appearance or character endearing and adorable and getting it all from his POV made his side of this romance plausible. Seeing Léo do touristy things with Ben because it made Ben happy was lovely and his domesticity couldn’t have been more appealing.
The additions of Léo’s cousin Malik and best friend Lucien to the mix gave Ben a nice look into Léo’s world and allowed him to see Léo as more than his Wikipedia page. Ben needed to see that Léo wasn’t perfect and having friends rib Léo while sharing embarrassing stories of his youth to Ben certainly allowed for that to happen. I wish we had the chance to meet Danika in person but I did love her shopping trips with Ben and just how supportive she is of her best friend.
This romance moves along with very little angst between Léo and Ben with Ben extended his stay in Monaco indefinitely to spend more time with Léo. We get to experience the high life and notable locations the men visit while fitting into the lifestyle that Léo is familiar with. The couple falls quickly for one another and though Ben questions if their romance and love is only because they met while he was on holiday, the men stay true to their feelings and we get a nice ending wrapped up with an expensive bottle of champagne.
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