Review of Hollywood Heir by Ruth Cardello ~ with audio

A billionaire silver-screen hero finds a real-life heroine in this sizzling romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello.
Sage Revere follows her instincts, which have led to an oddball career as a plant psychologist. As a side project, she also helps strangers find happiness. Sage has a gift for knowing who needs her help, and the brooding hunk of a loner she meets in a coffee shop certainly fits the bill. She can feel it.
On-screen, Eric Westerly is the hottest superhero there is. Offscreen, he’s out of rehab; incognito in London; and reevaluating his life, his career, and his broken family ties. All he wants is to be alone. Then along comes some daft plant whisperer who gets under his skin. She’s also sweet, sexy, and irresistible. But what’ll happen when she finds out who he is—that underneath the gray spandex, he’s just a regular guy with a Batcave?
But Eric isn’t the only one with a few secrets. And when the masks come off, Sage and Eric are going to have to trust each other if they want a Hollywood happy ending.

Available on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited with audio.

The audio was once again quite well-done by Teri Clark Linden. There was good differentiation between male and female voices and even between female voices. My only disappointment would be that Sage’s voice seemed a bit too old for a young woman. The production was clean and clear and in sync with the text.

Family matriarch Delinda continues to meddle in the lives of her grandchildren. She’s supposed to be growing and becoming a more sensitive and intuitive person. In this installment of the Westerly series, however, she has a major regression when she tries to ‘deal with’ Sage. She’s actually quite unlikeable rather than the sympathetic figure she’s meant to be. I, for one, wouldn’t have been so quick to forgive and forget her actions.

Therein actually lies the main flaw in this storyline. Both Delinda and Eric treat Sage abysmally. Yet, Sage finds it in that big old heart of hers to forgive and move on. I know this is a light romance etc but still I like my heroines a little less pushed around or with significant backbone to satisfactorily address bullies. Thank goodness for best friend, Bella, who says what needs to be said.

A lovely part of the book was catching up on the lives of the other characters in the family who’ve had their stories already. No need to have read those before to enjoy this one though.

Both Sage and Eric are nice enough characters for a quick, fun read but both lack some development. Eric has a serious addiction issue but I felt that story lacked depth and wish more was revealed about his past and his coping mechanisms. Sage comes from an incredibly dysfunctional family but that hardly gets page space and is never really addressed.

Although this is probably the weakest of the stories in the series so far I’m still invested in the characters and want to read the next in the series. I hope Nicolette’s story is as juicy as I hope and I look forward to the humor provided via Delinda’s relationship with the king.

I give Hollywood Heir 3.5/5 starry espresso shots.