THE BILLIONAIRE'S BARGAIN – Naima Simone
Blackout Billionaires , Book 1
Harlequin Desire #2668
ISBN: 978-1-335-60370-8
June 2019
Contemporary Series Romance

Chicago, Illinois – Present Day

Billionaire Darius King hates Isobel Hughes with a passion because he blames her for his best friend's death. When Isobel shows up uninvited to his party one night, he spots her and is on his way to throw her out when the lights go out. Darius has a fear of blackouts after losing his parents in a fire and remembering that he heard them call out to him in the dark. Gripped in paralyzing fear, he's comforted in the darkness by a strange woman. Despite not knowing her or being able to see her, he's intrigued and is soon touching her intimately. They end up in bed, and the next morning he wakes up to discover that his mysterious lady is Isobel.

Isobel didn't realize it was Darius that she was comforting and sharing hot kisses (and more) with. She knows that like her late husband's family, Darius hates her. After realizing it was him , she leaves his mansion but he's soon tracking her down. Why did she show up at his party? Turns out that Isobel needs financial help for her son – the one she had with her husband but whose existence is being denied by his family. Isobel had been accused of sleeping around and trying to pass off another man's child as her husband's, but one look at the little boy, Aiden, and Darius realizes his friend is the father. Darius will help her to get Aiden acknowledged by his grandparents, but Isobel must do one thing: marry him.

A sudden blackout in Chicago provides the backdrop for THE BILLIONAIRE'S BARGAIN, the first book in the Blackout Billionaires series by Naima Simone. Darius is grateful to the family of his late friend, Gage, as they helped him through the tragic deaths of his parents. Everyone was told by Gage that Isobel was a gold-digger who cheated and lied, so after Gage died, she was banished and any hope she had of claiming for Aiden his share of the family fortune also died. Isobel really doesn't care that Gage's family isn't in her life, but she needs the money to support Aiden. If only they'd really look at Aiden, because then they'd realize he is Gage's son. As for Darius's unexpected proposal, she wants to turn him down, but she needs his help getting close to Aiden's grandparents. They both know there is an attraction between them. He could just bed her, so why does he want to marry her?

Darius is torn between what he has heard about Isobel and what he learns about her after being around her in THE BILLIONAIRE'S BARGAIN. Slowly, it begins to sink in that maybe Gage wasn't the honest and nice guy everyone thought he was. As the barriers between Darius and Isobel slowly lower, will trust build between them? An engaging and emotional tale that you don't want to miss, be sure to pick up a copy of THE BILLIONAIRE'S BARGAIN.

Patti Fischer