New Book Alert: Accidentally Engaged to The Billionaire Book 5 by Bridget Taylor; Some Reality But Soap Opera Schemes Overshadow Charming Wish Fulfillment

 

New Book Alert: Accidentally Engaged to The Billionaire Book 5 by Bridget Taylor; Some Reality But Soap Opera Schemes Overshadow Charming Wish Fulfillment

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Bridget Taylor's Accidentally Engaged to the Billionaire Book 1 was a charming display of wish fulfillment as billionaire Charles Bentley is ordered to get married by his 35th birthday or risk losing his fortune. On a whim, he proposes at first sight to Jane, a pizza deliverer who is in financial straits. The two attend balls, fancy dinners, and country clubs acting like a happily engaged couple under the suspicions of Charles' avaricious uncle, Jack and attorney, Wyatt. Meanwhile, Charles and Jane are supported by Charles' cousin, James and challenged by Jane's sister, Helena who has her own private grudge against the Bentley family. Five books later, Accidentally Engaged to the Billionaire Book 5, moves things considerably. Charles and Jane have married and while Charles loves Jane, Jane is uncertain about her own feelings and the two intend to still end their marriage after a year. That is until Jane, who had long believed that she couldn't have children, learns that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, James and Helena have taken their relationship to a higher level with an impending engagement. Jack however has plans to destroy both couples and keep the Bentley inheritance for himself. Book 5 of the Accidentally Engaged series offers some slight semblance of reality into this modern fairy tale particularly with the ever present class conflicts and pregnancy complications. Jane's pregnancy is handled with much care and sympathy. We see a couple who adjusted to the fact that children would not be in the cards, making their unusual situation easier, are now blindsided by this emotional complication. The complication becomes physical when they learn that Jane has fibroids and giving birth could potentially injure or even kill her. This plot brings the romanticism of the previous book to a halt and allows Taylor to inject some realism into an otherwise paint by numbers romance. Many romances end with marriage or babies ever after. Once the couple says I do and they can hear the pitter patter of little feet, then it's over. Hugs and happy endings for all. But that's not always the case as Book 5 demonstrates. Pregnancy itself is a very complicated painful thing that is very difficult for couples to go through and it can be very hard physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. Some are just not prepared for the reality of having a family, especially a couple who began so arbitrarily and unrealistically as Charles and Jane did. There are also times when the plot takes on soap opera extremes. Uncle Jack who was the primary antagonist in Book 1 was mostly in small doses then as the uptight snob. Now he forces his way to the forefront as a scenery devouring villain. He appears to have taken lessons from J.R. Ewing from Dallas as he connives to take James and Charles' inheritances. He especially threatens James by demanding he take a DNA test to see if he is biologically a Bentley. Another nice touch in Book 5 is something that I had long predicted: longtime adversaries James and Helena would end their animosity and hook up. I was right and in a nice twist from Jane and Charles' speedy engagement and marriage, they take the time to get to know each other. They have a typical courtship and slow burning romance that culminates in a marriage, suggesting that the conflicts that Jane and Charles have because of their speed will be or have been worked out during the pre-wedding phase. Like with Jane's pregnancy complications, this brings this otherwise airy romance down to earth.