Review: Mr. Masters by TL Swann

Rating: 3.5/5
Angst: 2/5
Steamy: 4/5
Trope: Single Dad, Nanny romance, age gap, billionaire romance, widow, grump/sunshine
Series: Mr Series (Standalone)

Brielle, our heroine, had a disastrous relationship with a man with mental problems and she is now trying to move on and trying to enjoy life again. She comes to London from Australia to live an adventure. She will work as a nanny for a year.

Julian Masters is a widow with two children. He is a judge and he is super rich. He has two close friends but except for them, he is a closed off man. He even doesn’t show much affection to his children. He cares about them, but he doesn’t show love or affection.

First off Julian Masters is not a hero you are going to love.  I doubt he becomes a book boyfriend. He is a complete man whore.  He is the worst kind of jerk. Before he met the heroine, he had friends with benefits and at the same time, he used high-class prostitutes whenever he wanted.
It should be noted that Mr. Masters is not a man who is still mourning after his beloved dead wife and doesn’t want to love and lose another woman again. His back story is unique. Raised in a wealth family.  As a young law student, he makes the choice to marry a woman who has gotten pregnant after a one-night stand.  They have not dated, there is no deep soul shaking love between them. Instead, their marriage is transactional.   In his private life, he doesn’t do relationships. When women fall in love with him, he immediately leaves them. He prefers to have friends with benefits but he is not loyal to them because at the same time, he goes to high-class prostitutes. The reasons about why he leads a life like this are revealed in the second half of the book.

Brielle and Julian try to ignore their attraction for a short while but they cannot resist the sizzling hot chemistry between them for long and they start a “friends with benefits” arrangement.

This read was kind of a rollercoaster ride for me throughout the whole book. I wanted to smack him, strangle him, or kick him.   I also had to hug him, kiss him better and say everything will be OK in the end. He is such a complex character.  

Spoiler****

In the end what tears the characters apart is full on Julian’s doorstep.  He has a lot of trauma and grief and has not dealt with them.   Julian’s grand gesture was not nearly enough.  I felt like the resolution was rushed.  I felt like I needed more groveling in the end.    The multiple epilogues were nice but not sure we needed them all.  It just really made the end feel crowded.