Jasmine Haynes - The Fortune Hunter - Fortune Hunter Series 1

How to refuse a daring and tempting proposition that offers the one thing she cannot resist…

Faith Castle is a kindergarten teacher and the heiress of Castle Heavy Mining, it is her heart’s desire to have children of her own, but with children usually comes a husband, Faith has yet to find one. However, she is just average looking, wears a size 8, on a bad day a size 10 and lives in a town full of blond Barbies with the perfect dress size, so finding an eligible man is not so easy. Then she meets Connor Kingston, he is tall, dark, and handsome and he sure knows how to kiss, he offers to marry her and all he wants in return is to be CEO at her father’s company. She makes her own demands, she wants a baby and his fidelity – in return he wants a no-holds-barred sex life. This indecent proposal could work for both of them as long as she does not fall in love with him, but can she shield her heart from him?

Connor Kingston has not had an easy childhood, he is determined to climb the corporate ladder and reach the top fast before he is old and grey, to do so he needs to marry an heiress. But he cannot picture himself married to a senseless, skinny Barbie doll, when he meets Faith he knows she is the one. He also notices that she is very insecure of herself while she has no reason to be; to him she is absolutely gorgeous. He wants to free her from her insecurities and raise her sexual self-esteem to the highest level possible. He believes in lust but not in love, nevertheless Faith gets under his skin and soon he wonders if lust is all he wants from Faith, maybe being a CEO is not the jackpot after all…

From the first page this story takes off at full speed, it urges you to keep on reading and you almost wish that it is never-ending. One of the reasons The Fortune Hunter reads like clockwork is the cast of characters. They are intriguing, scheming, bitchy and versatile. The main characters, Connor and Faith, will steal your heart in a split second.

Connor is handsome, tall and virile. He had a difficult youth and wants a better life. He doesn’t believe in love and thinks that lust is much better. He does not like the emotional stuff getting in his way. He is looking for the right woman for his proposal, he is an honest and hard worker, the what-you-see-is-what-you-get type.

Faith is an average looking woman with all the usual female insecurities, all she really needs is a nudge in the right direction to blossom. Most of Faith’s insecurities are very obvious and most women will recognize themselves in her, therefore it is very easy to connect with her. That doesn’t mean that Faith is a pushover or jaded, she is actually one of the few heiresses in town who has a reason to get up every morning, she works as a teacher. She is just insecure when it comes to men.

Of course Faith’s family and friends are against their marriage and soon it is them-against-the-world. But both are committed to their marriage and Connor does his best to free Faith of her sexual barriers. Little by little she changes and let go of her insecurities, the chapter where Connor orders Faith to buy a vibrator is hilarious, she comes up with all these excuses not to buy it, but Connor insist on her buying it anyway. Every time he pushes her a bit further, he is persistent in showing her how beautiful she is. Their interactions are building up from hot, to hotter, to extreme steamy and hot but without getting crude. They shimmer throughout the book making you flip the pages faster and faster.

The colorful cast of secondary characters spices the story even more. The true friendship between Faith and her best friend Trinity, who looks like a model, is heart-warming. At the surface Trinity looks like a futile and shallow woman, but she isn’t. Jarvis, Faith’s father, also plays an important part. He is all about business and protecting his daughter, no matter what it takes, but in doing so he forgets to see Faith as a real and adult person who makes her own decisions. We also get to see how cruel society is and how gossip can destroy relationships.

The plot is fast-paced and full of little twists and obstacles that Faith and Connor need to overcome. Connor has to deal with scheming and backstabbing people and has to learn that true love and trust might not be such a bad thing. Faith needs to learn to stand on her own two feet and to defy her bossy farther and friends. She grows more comfortable in her own skin with every page!

If you are looking for a story that raises your blood-pressure pronto, this is the one to read! Jasmine Haynes writing is easy and compelling to read, her storylines are flowing and her characters are well-developed and charming. This is one story that is almost too hot to handle, make sure to have plenty of cold water at hand to cool down!

I am looking forward to read Show & Tell, Trinity's story.

4,5 stars