The Bonus

Emotional roller coaster. Swan never fails to deliver in yet another sweet, intelligent love story. She has the perfect balance and somehow always manages to take my heart through the ringer. The highs are high and the lows make you feel that gut wrenching pain you once felt when your heart was broken once upon a time. And yet, she manages to make you belly laugh and feel like you truly know these characters so much you wish they were real. I will never tire of reading her books. PLEASE NEVER STOP WRITING! Your stories are genuinely precious.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I even cussed and swore at Gabriel because of the things he did and said. But in the end I totally adored him.

Gracie was amazing. And to think how much she put up with Gabriel's behavior and actions. And then I cried for her, and I hated Gabriel even more until the end. Extraordinary HEA!!

This book is well written, and having been a proofreader for many years, I found very little errors. And they were only minor typographical errors. It was a pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it! But, have the tissues on hand and plan to stay up all night reading. Definitely a "can't put down" read.

I’m especially partial to love-to-hate billionaire romances; more so when I have little idea where the author is heading. That said, I was convinced I’d picked up on the gist of the plot fairly quickly, only to be thrown off-kilter. Swan gives her readers the rough with the smooth in her latest fast-paced standalone novel, The Bonus. Her masterminding the laugh-out-loud with what-the-heck-just-happened scenarios, hit me exactly where I wanted them to. The ooh and aah moments either had me grinning from ear to ear or tearing up. Yes, heart-racing emotions abound.     

Swan’s hero, Gabriel Ferrara, is a perfectionist, and an overly demanding boss on top of that. Not to mention he’s drop-dead gorgeous with all the attributes that go with his Italian heritage. But wait! Not everything is sunshine and rainbows on the homefront, which ups the angst level to the want of a good reading device bashing! You can’t help liking him though. His inner thoughts put me in the picture, helping me understand his position regarding family duty, and to be honest, I had difficulty getting my head around what was expected of him. 

I admired Grace Porter, Gabriel’s PA. She never felt sorry for herself: certainly being a grab the bull by the horns kind of person. Even though Gabriel goes all-out to provoke her, she’s strong-willed and gives him as good as she gets. Ooh my, the sassy banter is nothing less than magnificent, but something’s been brewing since day one. We find out how she feels, yet what about her grumpy employer who’d come to rely on her over the years? You know when a spanner is thrown into the works, the backlash it causes? Her life-changing decision with secrecy attached does just that. So, the jaw-dropping plot twist didn’t just make me want to get to the end faster than fast, flipping the pages into silly-clock hours was what it was–sleep deficit be…oops, enough said! 

Family-orientated romance is also my thing and although I hated a relative–not saying who, Swan knocked the secondary character, plot development and steaminess out of the park. How Grace and Gabriel affronted specific issues frustrated me, only to make their story feel even more authentic. In all its epicness, the cherry on the top was exclusive bonus scenes from Gabriel’s POV. Bravo, Swan!