The Charmer is Book 3 in the Biotech Billionaires series about a group of friends and coworkers who despite their millions and billions, still deal with things like meddling parents, psycho ex's, personal insecurity that drives every decision in life, and trying to NOT fall for your coworker. The Charmer being the last in the series wraps everything up nicely. The Charmer is a marriage of convenience, associates to lovers, he falls first romance. It hits all the best boxes of each trope and doesn't fall flat in the romance or spice department either. The author even plays with the miscommunication trope throughout the story and resolves it in a way I didn't quite expect but loved. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wouldn't be upset if there was a novella in the future about what the crew has been up to in the meantime. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down except to sleep!

4.5 ugh Xander has my heart. His relationship with Penelope is everything. The fact that he has his own nickname for her because he knows she hates Penny, even when her ex fiancé didn’t even know that, talk about swoon. The found family aspect is perfection, they adopted Penelope quickly into their circle, she just had a hard time accepting it. The banter was amazing and the circumstances that lead to Xander and Penelope faking an engagement and marriage was hilarious and perfect for them. Thank you Netgalley for the arc! I can’t wait to have a physical copy for my shelves

I knew I was going to love Xander’s story based on *gestures at everything* and when I realized it was going to be Penelope!!! Even better.

The two are SUCH good friends to their chosen people, and each of them have just the right defense mechanisms to be broke down only by each other. Xander makes Penelope feel important and cared for and special as a person even before there’s anything real between them. Penelope allows him to be open and vulnerable without pulling back or pushing him too far.

I literally cannot fathom any of the dollar amounts in these books. If a real life person had this much money I would loathe them on principal but thankfully they are fake and so we are allowed to love them.

I binged this whole series just so I could read this ARC.

A fun, easy read and my favorite book of the series.
This book serves the perfect opposites attract, "he falls first", and marriage of convenience tropes. The pacing of the plot was just right, and I loved Xander and Penelope’s banter throughout. I was extremely happy that there was no third act breakup, and they were able to resolve their issues together with maturity and grace.

My favorite book of the Biotech Billionaires series! Even throughout the other books Xander has always been my favorite character and I'm so happy he got his own book.

This was such a fast read and a perfect weekend escape. We meet Xander and Penelope, mutual friends in a chose family, who have had a mild flirtation over the years but are both sort of unclear on if one really likes the other or this is just how the other is. Some interesting circumstances align and they find themselves in the midst of a one year marriage of convenience. Both characters are strong and endearing and finding out more about themselves over the year. The romance is spicy and the drama is low grade. Their friends are hilarious and supportive. Love that there are so many diverse characters too! You will enjoy this book!

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyage and NetGalley for this ARC!

A sincere thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the review copy of this book.

Attorney Penelope needs to find a husband to save her inheritance and maintain her wealthy mother’s luxe lifestyle. Enter Xander - prankster tech billionaire who has been secretly nursing feeling for her for some time. The pair marry. The rest of the story unfolds with the new couple tackling Penelope’s unfortunate family life, Xander’s business ventures, and their budding feelings for each other.

Oh man. I wanted to like this one… but it just lacked that zip for me, that spark that makes you grin while reading a great book.

I have not read the first two books in this series and maybe they provide a little more backstory, but Penelope fell flat for me. I wanted little interesting pieces of her to hold onto, like Xander’s photographic memory. There just wasn’t much that made her stand out to me. If she’s supposed to be the foil to charming, goofy Xander, I wanted her to start out even more stiff, more poised, more restrained. I wanted to see her slowly melt into her true self under his consistent acceptance and care.

The storyline also fell a little flat for me. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that gripped me and made me want to turn the page. I felt like we needed higher stakes - Xander had basically nothing to lose in this fake marriage other than maybe Penelope finding out his feelings for her were real. No one from her family seemed to be actually watching Penelope to make sure the marriage wasn’t a scam (I would’ve expected way more interference from them if she was truly the East/West capitalism unicorn they made her out to be). I felt like I was missing those classic tropes and obstacles that come with a marriage of convenience troupe.

I did enjoy the couple’s time in Singapore - the food, the parties, the culture. The most memorable seem for me was Penelope showing Xander around the night market.

Overall, this was not a bad book at all, just not one that made a big impression on me. If you enjoy billionaire romances, romances with international affairs, fake marriage romances, you may want to give this one a shot!

Y’all I have to admit I had never heard of this author or this series until I saw this as a “read now” on NetGalley. I 100% grabbed it on a whim because I saw that it was billionaire romance. If you’ve been with me for a while you know I’m a sucker for a good billionaire romance. However, the Biotech Billionaire series is so much more than that. This incredible series is written by a Biopic author and the series is filled with an amazing group of diverse characters and locations.

Y’all when I say I devoured this series it is not a figure of speech. I started book 1 on Sunday and just finished my arc copy of book 3 on Friday night. I have zero regrets on the chokehold this series had on my week. I 100% wish I had known about this earlier and on a personal level I wish I lived closer to Deerfield. Ava is going to a signing at the Steamy Lit bookstore and I wish I could attend, how dare I be 4 hours away and have to work.

But I digress back to “The Charmer” actual review. This was definitely my favorite of the series. Xander has been my favorite character from the beginning and I was waiting to see him get his love story. And Ava Rani did not disappoint.

“The Charmer” follows Penelope who is trying to get out of arranged company merge marriage. Then we have Xander our billionaire prankster who has been secretly crushing on Penelope. Xander sees an opportunity to become Penelope’s fake fiancée. When word gets out and the two enter a marriage of convenience in order to help Penelope get away from her families forced obligations.

This story was so much fun from beginning to end. I think my only gripe was the business acquisition/tech plot of the book got to be a smidge too much. But overall I do understand its importance. I loved our characters. Penelope is a strong, smart & savvy FMC. Xander is literally the glue holding the family together and I love him dearly for it. The slow burn romance between Penelope and Xander was also incredible. I loved watching their relationship blossom and strengthen throughout the entire book. Lastly I loved seeing all the past characters making an appearance. Being able to catch up and tie everything together was truly the icing on the cake.

Overall, I not only highly recommend “The Charmer”. I recommend the entire Biotech Billionaires series. I cannot wait to pick up my trophy copy of “The Charmer” when it releases later this May. Lastly big thank you to Avon and NetGalley for an arc of this book.

3.75 / 5 Stars

What a fun book! In “The Charmer,” Penelope is a badass, high power lawyer living in New York. She comes from two wealthy and powerful families and when her grandfather passed away, his will dictates that she must be married for a year to claim her inheritance (and her mom’s money is also tied in). The fiancé that has been arranged for her just isn’t it, so in a rash decision, she recruits Xander to be her fiancé. Xander is charming, wealthy, and has always had a soft spot for Penelope. How will their year-long marriage go? And how will it end?

I really enjoyed the main characters! Penelope is so smart and powerful and it was really cool to read a billionaire romance where both main characters were equals. I also related to her sense of duty to her family even when her family is not ideal (cough grandpa’s insane inheritance clause and her mother’s distance cough). Xander is a great male protagonist and it was fun to read a billionaire romance where the billionaire isn’t grumpy. At the very beginning, I was having a hard time connecting with their chemistry because it felt like it hinged on an event that happened in the past and that can be tough to connect with. But once, I was in, I was excited to keep reading!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own!

This is a cute book. I had not read the previous installments which left me
just a bit confused, but in the end it did not really matter. I always love a
good story with a way to capture a man not likely to be domesticated
and this certainly delivered. It’s not to be over analyzed, simply enjoy the
lives we read about, and smile as Poppy and Xander truly fall in love~
with serious bonus points for the taming of Xander! Some R-rated
scenes, but they really are important to the evolution of the story.
My thanks to Aron Publishing for the download copy of this book for
review purposes.

3 stars

I love aspirational lifestyle stories. Reading about billionaires falling in love and throwing money around to live in luxury? Yes, please. So I was excited and primed to love The Charmer. Unfortunately, though, this book was largely a miss for me. The plotting felt rushed, and there were no real stakes. Penelope is estranged from her family which is a source of major strife throughout the novel, but every problem is resolved too easily and without any tension to build the storyline. The thing I love most about stories about billionaires is getting to read about the opulence and grandeur of a life I can only imagine (like Crazy Rich Asians or the Paradise Problem). The Charmer is light on any of those details, too, though, which felt like a real miss.

What Readers Can Expect:
-FMC of color
-Billionaires falling in love
-Fake marriage trope
-Family drama
-Found family
-3.5/5 spice

I love a fake marriage story, so I enjoyed the overall plot of this novel. Beyond that, though, this book didn't really deliver for me. So much of the chemistry between the FMC and MMC is told through allusion to events that happened in the past or through brief flashbacks so I never really felt like we got to witness it developing between them in real time. I also can't believe I'm saying this as a lover of all things smut, but there are so many back to back scenes of smut that do absolutely nothing for the story and feel like they're shoehorned in.

I liked the family drama and business intrigue elements of the story but they weren't super well developed which I think impacted the rest of the book. The characters felt very two dimensional, and every side character felt like a device not an actually developed character.

4.5 stars ⭐️ This is the third book of the Biotech Billionaires series. It’s romantic, cute and spicy!

What to expect:
- Marriage of convenience
- Both MCs are billionaires
- Friends to lovers
- Open door spice

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Charmer, even though I hadn’t read the first two books in the series—which I immediately downloaded on KU as soon as I finished. This one stands perfectly well on its own, but it hooked me enough that I want to go back and see what I missed.

The story follows a Singaporean-English woman caught in a complicated family situation. To secure her mother’s inheritance, she agrees to a marriage of convenience with a billionaire “charmer” who has a reputation for good-natured, serial monogamy and a genuinely good heart. What starts as an "oopsie" misunderstanding quickly turns into something much deeper, and watching their relationship shift was so satisfying. Their dynamic is built on great banter, real emotional connection, and chemistry that sneaks up on her (I do love it when he falls first.).

I like when a romance gives me strong character development, and this one delivers. The heroine is smart, determined, and deeply loyal, while the hero—who could have been just another rich playboy—is layered, kind, and absolutely the kind of character you root for. The writing is sharp, the pacing is great, and the scenes-especially in Singapore and the Hamptons-act as character as well as plot development. If you like marriage-of-convenience stories with actual emotional stakes, The Charmer is definitely worth picking up. 4.5/5

Ava Rani’s “The Charmer,” the third installment in the Biotech Billionaire series, centers around Penelope and Xander’s relationship. Even though I haven’t read the previous books, I was able to follow the story and get to know the characters well. It gives a glimpse into the lavish lifestyles of the wealthy and famous, from their exclusive social clubs to their private jets and fancy clothes.

This was a fun marriage of convenience contemporary romance with a lot of rich people. With dual POV, I loved being in each characters heads to see not only their own growth but also how hard they each fell for the other. Xander is swoony. All he wanted to do was given Penelope the tools to use them however she pleased. He truly would say "how high" if she asked him to jump. Xander grew equally as much throughout the story. They each learned to rely on the other to seek calmness and I truly loved that. Ultimately, I wasn't sure how the espionage plot was going to come into play, but I thought it helped push the plot forward in a way that felt satisfying. My first from the author and certainly won't be my last.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy!

Overall a good read, but sometimes a little confusing. Maybe because I haven’t read her other books, but there were definitely areas where I felt like parts of the story was missing, or there was an unexpected leap of logic. Most of it was about Penelope and Xander’s backstory, so it felt like it may have been over edited. And the way they got engaged definitely felt like it was missing some details. As I got farther into the book, the story felt more complete, though I continued to note areas missing full explanations.

In any case, this book was definitely a parade of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, from the over the top social club they belong to, to the private jet and fancy clothes.

"Lots of things are going to change, but them? We're stuck with them because when you love people, you can't really lose them".

I think this maybe my favourite book in the series! Ava really encapsulates quiet luxury without making it feel garish or over indulgent. This book has a “my wife” moment, a marriage of convenience, a bucket list and gave me 'Crazy Rich Asian' vibes. Plus when Xander bought a piece of art for Poppy? Definitely one of my fave moments. I can't wait for another book in the series cause I know Ava's cooking up something special.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC!

it was very mature of penelope to say ‘i need to calm down. everything’s fine. i’m an adult.’ i liked them, but their relationship really relied on ~past events~ for the ~tension~. it’s not like there was missing information, but i wasn’t given enough time to marinate in it. it was just like oh ok, so they had a moment years ago?

maybe i should have read the first two books, but this was coupled with a lot of details about their individual pasts being glossed over. like we were constantly told about how they were a lil traumatized from their pasts, but it was all very vague. i’m not saying i need podcast deep dives, but bc nothing was expanded upon, it felt like they had archetypical backstories

the found family aspect … i mean good for them, as they’re really leaning into being super financially and politically powerful people who can get away with unethical things, but it’s okay bc their goals align with the greater good! guslib, gertkip, galboos✨

lmao this is nitpicky, but i feel like in the american pop culture sphere, people don’t usually refer to familial norman rockwell paintings as good … things … anyway, thanks for the arc netgalley & harper voyager

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read that kept me invested the whole time. The marriage of convenience was how their relationship started but I appreciated that it wasn't a super large focus. The characters had really good banter, and I love a good banter. I could actually see the chemistry between them which is the markings of a good romance book (and author!). It was a fun read that I would highly recommend. I hadn't read any of Ava Rani's other books prior to this one but am excited to continue reading her other work.

Such a cute series. Loved the characters. I binged all 3 this week! Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon

3.5/5

In real life, I am very anti-billionaire, but in books...that's a very different story. Literally. Heehee, see what I did there?

An attorney and a tech billionaire (especially hate tech bros in real life) fake date/fake marry. And that's always a fun and chaotic time.

I really liked how we got to see a depth to these characters, we saw them deal with their own personal issues as well as external issues. We see our FMC dealing with how she interacts with others, her people-pleasing and how that impacts the relationships in her life, especially with her family. I really enjoyed that depth to her because I didn't find there to be much depth in the relationship between her and Xander.

The pacing of this book also felt a bit stop and start at times for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.