O'Banyon Brothers: Book 1
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Liked It “I wanted to read it because it's written bij JR Ward. The other books by Jessica Bird were ok, but I really did like this one. And I do like the returning characters.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I wanted to read it because it's written bij JR Ward. The other books by Jessica Bird were ok, but I really did like this one. And I do like the returning characters.”
Be_nice wrote this review Sunday, November 4, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A easy quick read with an interesting love story.”
Sailon wrote this review Sunday, May 27, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I totally enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would! The only problem is that Sean's two brothers stories were never written :o(”
Book-Tart wrote this review Tuesday, September 20, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“~* 4.5 Stars *~
Tracy wrote this review Sunday, January 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Nurse Lizzie Bond was crushed that she wasn't there when her friend and landlord Mr. O'Banyon suffered his second, fatal heart attack. In the two years since she moved into his downstairs duplex apartment, they had become close. She took care of many of the infirm man's needs, running errands and getting him to his doctor, and he was someone to care if she made it home from her two jobs safe and sound. Losing him was painful. Contacting the son he'd asked she call only after his death was hard.
The news of his father's death didn't hit multi-millionaire and Wall Street Wunderkind Sean O'Banyon as hard as a ton of bricks so much as it felt like it lifted that ton from his shoulders. Returning to the blue collar Southie duplex he grew up in, though, dragged him back down into the morass of fear and nightmare familiar from his childhood. His father had not been a kind man and had left he and his two brothers emotionally and physically scarred in ways that he would never express.
Driven to demonic levels to succeed in life hadn't prepared Sean for the daunting task of boxing up his father's things and selling the house that still gave him night terrors, but meeting the genuinely kind and generous Lizzie both eased him and enticed him. With monstrous trust issues scalding his soul, though, allowing himself to love may be the one thing no amount of success can guarantee.
Okay, color me stupid, because until recently I'd either not known, or have since forgotten, that one of my favorite paranormal romance authors, J.R. Ward, writes contemporary romance under her maiden name, Jessica Bird. I'm a huge BDB fan; I should've known this (or remembered it) much sooner! Quite obviously, there are huge differences between contemporary romance and the UF/PNR megaworld of the BDB, so I really didn't go into this book with much more than curiosity for earlier, non-fantastical incarnations of her talent, but I was interested enough to try it out.
I am so pleasantly surprised. Yes, The Billionaire Next Door was published as a part of the Silhouette Special Edition series, and that (along with the slightly corny title) did set up some preconceptions that weren't all that positive. Maybe that's a part of why I was so very pleased by this book. I didn't have much in the way of expectation. What I got, though, was a darker, more complex story with far more complicated and three dimensional characters than I would have expected, given the vehicle.
I suppose I should have remembered that while this is a vastly different tone than her other works, she's still a skilled author, and one of Ward's talents is the ability to write tortured, sympathetic characters whose motivations are realistic and whose actions are understandable, and to do so with a flair and flavor that makes them seem like friends.
The depth of the issues and the darkness of the memories of a brutal past were handled deftly as they were incorporated into Sean's personality. The poignancy of being responsible for a mother with diminished mental capacity struck close to home for me personally and added a lovely dimension to Lizzie's character. Secondary and ancillary characters were just as well done, most especially in Sean's younger (but larger...definitely larger) brother's case. He was in just two scenes and yet he was thoroughly real and ultimately sympathetic.
While the theme of rich man/poor girl isn't new and is, in fact, the most cliched aspect of a pretty predictable plot, the underlying issues of child abuse, alcoholism, and the ghosts of childhood trauma that haunt us as adults were a force to be both reckoned with and admired. Those things combined with solid, likable characters with genuine depth and elevated this romance beyond its trappings, even as it was setting up those trappings with fine authorial plumage.
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
http://one-good-book.blogspot.com”
“This book was OK. Well written, with a likable heroine, but the hero was a bit of a jerk repeatedly. He had his reasons, to a degree, but he should've used logic to see his misunderstanding was false. ”
clarkstonmom wrote this review Monday, October 25, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The three O’Banyon brothers had escaped their abusive father and their childhood home, when the opportunity was there for them. The youngest brother Billy was offered a football scholarship, the oldest brother Mac joined the army and middle brother Sean received his scholarship to Harvard. They had sworn to each other to never look back.
Lady_Caella wrote this review Friday, August 6, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Lizzie Bond rented the first floor apartment in Eddie O’Banyon’s building since she finished nursing school. Despite the bitterness in the old man’s eyes, Lizzie couldn’t walk away from Eddie when he needed her help. So she made sure that he ate, took his medication and cleaned his house from time to time. So when Lizzie come home one night, it was shocking to hear he had died.
When Sean O’Banyon receives a phone call of his father’s passing, he is relieved, finally they prayers have been answered and they were finally free. Sean wants to get his father’s stuff out of the apartment as soon as possible, so he can sell the place. He knew it would be hard to go back to his childhood home, but he couldn’t imagine that the nightmares would come back. The only good think is meeting Lizzie, but does she mean everything she says or is she one of those women who’re obsessed with his money.
A Billionaire Next Door by Jessica Bird is the first novel in the O’Banyon Trilogy and a terrific book.
Sean O’Banyon already appeared in the Moorehouse Legacy series and I already thought he would be an interesting character. I was right, he is a Wall Street genius and you could say he’s a playboy. He’s enjoying life and the attention of beautiful women.
Lizzie is the opposites, she’s been working two jobs to pay the bills, supporting her mother and save more money for her education. When she meets the right man, then she wants it all, marriage, the house and children.
When Lizzie and Sean meet each other for the first time, they are both sceptic about each other. Sean thinks she is a gold-digger, that she’s after his father’s money and maybe even after his wealth, like every other woman in his life. Lizzie cannot believe Sean didn’t care about his own father. But when both of them discover the truth, they cannot ignore the attraction between them any longer.
I truly enjoy this book and I’m hoping that Miss Bird will write about the two other brothers soon.
”
“Jessica Bird is also J.R. Ward author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is a great book and I'm waiting for the books for the two other O'Banyon brothers.”
Essie wrote this review Monday, November 16, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The world of Romance novels brings many a variety of Alpha Heroes. Some not quite human, some aristocratic Lords/Dukes/Earls/Princes of a manor of sorts, some athletic (Hellooooo Bobby Tom!), some handicapped, and some, yummy Scottish lairds/warlords. All deliciously sexy in their own way, and most, Sheridan would love to jump in a dark alley. Yeah alright ALL of them okay? Except the…battery operated one arm guy. It is also no secret, here in the ripmybodice.com offices and on this our fair website, that I have a deep everlasting love for Matthew Farrell. So of all the Alpha Heroes I love and would jump in a dark alley, the boy from the school of hard knocks turned billionaire corporate raider is the one Alpha Hero I’d jump, knock out, then drag back home, only to tie him to my bed ala “Misery†style. It’s no wonder therefore when Lola said “hey! Jessica Bird has a new book out about a billionaire corporate rai—-“, I was running to the bookstore like a crackwhore prostitute running from her pimp. Not that I’ve had any personal experience or anything. No seriously.
RipMyBodice wrote this review Monday, November 9, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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FOR MORE OF THIS REVIEW, CHECK OUT: http://www.ripmybodice.com/2007/09/10/the-corporate-raider-and-me/”
“Aw, so Butch O'neal was mentioned here. Wasn't expecting that. It was a very nice read but I'm incredibly dissapointed to find out she actually abandoned this series. I would have loved to read about the two other brothers. She's too busy being J.R. Ward nowadays, I suppose.”
Candy wrote this review Saturday, October 10, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
