For all of my adult Disney girlies who love fairy tales and happy endings, and a fair amount of spice, The Fine Print might be worth adding to your TBR. The Fine Print by Lauren Asher is the first book in the Dreamland Billionaire series. This book is told in a dual POV following the main characters Rowan and Zahra. Rowan Kane is the eldest of the three billionaire brothers in this series and after Rowan’s grandfather passes, he is tasked with creating a project to improve Dreamland. Enter Zahra Gulian, one of the Creators for Dreamland who by one drunk proposal turned rant about a ride that was her initial idea which was stolen, ends up with her dream job of helping create Dreamland’s most expensive ride.
If you haven’t picked up on this – Dreamland is essentially a written Disney World with it’s many similarities like it’s production companies and five-star hotels, and honestly this is what drew me to this series most. It felt like this series was a mashup of all of my favorite things – Disney, workplace romances, and billionaire brothers.
One thing I love about Lauren Asher and the characters she writes, is the inclusivity in her characters. Whether it’s mental health issues such as anxiety or cultural backgrounds, or disabilities. That alone has created a fan of her work because she incorporates representation in some of the most beautiful ways.
Zahra’s character, I loved. She was passionate and kept the book very lighthearted. She and Brady’s relationship was especially my favorite and a nice addition to her and Rowan’s love story. Rowan, who starts off as the most difficult boss, for me his character was not so much “grumpy” but more sad. Throughout most of the book you can see his struggle with being who he really is and following his dreams, which I felt as far as character development we saw quite a bit of that towards the end of the book. And even early on in the book we get a better understanding of why he is the way he is and even the reason behind some of the things Rowan does in his relationship with Zahra. Which leads me to the hidden identity aspect of the book. The part of the story that I swooned over the most was actually the text messages exchanges, I immediately thought of a modern-day Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox situation. And I will always live for a You’ve Got Mail moment. Always.
The spicy scenes were at an appropriate level, especially given this is an enemies to lovers. A lot of times the build up of becoming lovers is the crucial part, so I thought the spice was at an appropriate level. One of the main grievances that I had reading this book is that it felt like it was longer than it needed to be. I would have gotten all the plot, character development, and smiling, kicking my feet in the air moments with about 70% of its contents. There were a handful of moments in this book that I felt weren’t really crucial to the story line or development to any of the characters. This is important because by the end of the book, I felt it was suddenly the opposite. I felt as though the resolution was rushed. In most romance novels you can anticipate that there will be some conflict towards the end followed by a resolution which I am accustomed to. However, the conflict between the two characters in this story did not balance well for me. Personally, I tend to care for a ratio of 40% screw-up, 120% grovel. I don’t feel like we got even 80% groveling with this story. So, by the end of the book, though I was pleased that there was a happy ending, it didn’t feel as significant as the turmoil that preceded it.As I mentioned before I would definitely recommend this series to the romance lovers who also want a bit of bippity-boppity-boo magic sprinkled in. Though for me, I would reread this series mainly for Terms and Conditions. Personally, I am OBSESSED with Terms and Conditions, which is the second book of the Dreamland Billionaire series following Rowan’s brother Declan and his assistant Iris. So if you haven’t checked the next book yet, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so! Happy reading! 💛
Stars: 4
Spice Level: 3.5
Tropes: Workplace, grumpy + sunshine, close proximity, enemies to lovers, hidden identity
Trigger Warnings: death of a parent, childhood trauma, emotional abuse