The Fine Print

There are gonna be a lot of spoilers here so stop now if you don’t want the book ruined.

I wanna preface this by saying this is the first Lauren Asher book I’ve read. In an unrelated note, I gave this book 12/10 stars. While I had some ideas about this book from Tiktok and various other mediums (I don’t read blurbs anymore, if someone tells me it’s good I just read it lol) this book had a lot to unpack.

This first book in the Dreamland Billionaire Series starts with our first Kane brother, and the youngest of the bunch, Rowan. After the passing of his mother, he develops a strained relationship with his father. The three brothers plan to take over the company their grandfather created and fully push their father out of their lives once and for all. But things get complicated when they all receive a mysterious note from their late grandfather tasking them each with something to accomplish before they can earn their share of the company.

Rowan’s letter reveals he has to become the Director of Dreamland and lead a 6-month long project identifying the park's weaknesses and develop a renovation plan. As a creator who lost his spark, his grandfather is hoping some time spent in this magical place will bring back not only new ideas for the park, but bring Rowan back the happiness he’s pushed away for years.

Hard-set on suffering through 6-months in a place he’s come to hate, Rowan finds the initial task more annoying than anything, until he quite literally stumbles upon an employee who makes Dreamland more tolerable.

Texting each other under an alias, fake dating and getting to know our sunshine FMC, Zarah, Rowan is finding it harder and harder to leave as his 6-months nears its end. After a surprise trip to New York puts Zarah in the hospital, Rowan takes it as an opportunity to walk away from her.

This book had me in a literal chokehold. From the overprotective way Rowan treated Zarah between taking care of her when she caught a cold to promoting her ex with a job in China so she never had to see him again, he achieved hubby status. Having read almost 100 books this year, you would think I could prepare better for a third-act break up, but nope.

Instead I sat in my bed screaming (very maturely of course) at Rowan for being an idiot. Like any good book (and Disney-esque theme) they got their happy ending and an adorable epilogue. This is one of my top reads of the year and I see no future date in which I’ll stop talking about it.

Lauren Asher’s writing style was so easy to eat up and a great read to binge through. Even with the most mundane things happening in the book, I was hanging on to every word. Now I just need to figure out how to get a job at Disneyland, find the Director of the park and fall in love with him - super easy!

I’m excited to read book #2 and also scared because I just love Rowan and Zarah too much. Hopefully it meets my expectations and I can add Declan into my fictional boyfriend club :)

Book Rating: 5/5

Spice Rating: 4/5