Billionaire Archer Bancroft always gets what he wants—and he’s wanted Ivy Emerson, his best friend’s sister, for far too long. Being forbidden and untouchable only makes her more tempting. When a million-dollar bet with his friends throws down a challenge—last bachelor standing takes all—Archer knows he can win. That is, until one enchanted evening with Ivy takes his heart for a ride.
Ivy knows Archer is nothing but bad news: Infuriating, arrogant…and completely intoxicating. But despite her best efforts, she can’t seem to keep away. When a stolen kiss leads to a night of heated passion, Ivy realizes she’s in trouble and in head over heels.
But in the light of day, everything seems clearer and Archer’s not so sure a one-night stand is all he wants. Concocting a plan to keep Ivy by his side, Archer might just be willing to lose this bet…and win the jackpot instead.
Luck smiles on me once again – I landed an interview with Archer Bancroft and Ivy Emerson. And the cherry on top of this delicious news…I get to go to Crave to meet with them. Cue the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ – any time I get to mix gorgeous people and places while also handling blog business, sign me up! As I am driving into the resort parking lot all I can think is ‘Small, Quaint, Gorgeous and Sophisticated’ barely even cover the tip of the iceberg when trying describe Crave. The picturesque landscape that surrounds the hotel is breathtaking. As I make my way into the lobby, I feel like I might need to worry about tripping over my jaw, which has been located on the floor since I stepped through the doors. The interior of Crave is equally fabulous, Ivy did a spectacular job. Every detail is completely thought out and the entire gorgeous package just makes me want to move in. Soon.
I check in and make my way down to the restaurant, where the interview is scheduled to take place. Of course Archer reserved the table with the best view and I’m quite content to sit and sip my wine and plan my eventual move to Crave, until I catch my guests of honor enter the room. If I thought the resort was breathtaking, then Archer and Ivy have stolen my capability to breathe at all. Separate, they are beautiful, combined – their gorgeousness should be illegal. I wish I was exaggerating…I’m afraid I might drool and scare them off.
I rise to greet them, holding back the urge to hump Archer’s leg (that would not be appropriate at the resort he owns!), I shake Archer’s hand and give Ivy a friendly hug. We all take our seats and the waiter brings over more wine. This could be both good and bad for me…wine makes me relaxed, let’s just hope I don’t get too relaxed and say something I regret later. Ehh..it’s inevitable, I’ll just give up hope on not making an ass out of myself right now.
Lisa: “Thank you both so much for agreeing to meet with me and inviting me out to Crave, it’s absolutely stunning.”
Archer gives a confident smirk while Ivy gives me a cheerful smile.
Ivy: “Of course – thank you for coming out.”
Lisa: “Well, I’ll get right to the questions so I don’t take up too much of your time. Archer, would you like to go first?”
Archer: “Sure.”
Lisa: “Great. So, why do you call Ivy chicken?”
Archer: “When I first met her, she was a gangly awkward teenager and she reminded me of a chicken. She hated the nickname so of course, I never wanted to stop calling her it. I don’t call her chicken now though…
Lisa: “Not even when you want to get under her skin? Come on…”
He gives me a devious grin and Ivy rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath. HA!
Lisa: “Alright, I won’t pry. Did you have a ‘Plan B’ if Ivy turned you down to help with the design of Crave?”
Archer: “No. I was positive I could convince her to help me. That was me being either ultra confident or mega stupid.”
Lisa: “We’ll call it 50/50. It was slightly a ‘Hail Mary’ play but you have to go big or go home. And how is Crave going? As successful as you thought? It’s a very original idea, how did you come up with it?”
Archer: “It’s going very well. Both hotels (Hush and Crave) are doing well beyond my expectations. I came up with the concept of creating a place for lovers to reconnect after hearing my attached friends complain all the time how they felt disconnected to each other. Not that I had any experience since I’d never been in a real relationship until Ivy. Considering I feel pretty damn connected to her, I think we’re lucky.”
OMG I can’t even hide my smile…how can you not after a comment like that? I glance over at Ivy and she is smiling up at him. Too. Freaking. Cute.
Lisa: “I have to agree, I think you’re both very lucky. What was it like for you for the two weeks before you went to Ivy?”
Archer looks over at Ivy and grabs her hand.
Archer: “Torture. I missed her. I wanted to call her but I was too scared to do it. I tried to throw myself into my work but everything I did made me think of her, I missed her that badly. I wouldn’t recommend denying yourself what you want, that’s for sure.”
Lisa: “I’m a complete proponent of instant gratification. Don’t deny yourself what you don’t have to – especially the people you love and care about. When did Ivy change from your best friends little sister to more? Was there an ‘ah-ha’ moment?”
Archer: “It was more gradual. When she graduated high school and hugged me after I gave her a gift, I had a sort of “whoa” moment. She felt good in my arms. She felt…right.”
Awwww…okay, can I steal him? Please?
Archer: “That freaked me out and I avoided her for a while. Then when I did see her I teased her and drove her crazy which morphed into us arguing. All a front for what I really wanted to do (kiss her, jump her bones, you get the picture).”
Lisa: “Oh…I get the picture!”
I say with a wink. I told you, the wine could be a bad thing, but luckily both Archer and Ivy still have smiles on their faces, so apparently I haven’t crossed a line yet!
Lisa: “’The bet’ – blessing or curse?”
Archer: “Really? A blessing…you do realize Matt said the next girl I talked to I would marry. We then went on to say Ivy didn’t count but…she did. And she was the girl I talked to. The bet—and Matt—made that happen, I swear.”
Lisa: “Ahh…so really, Matt’s all to blame.”
We all get a chuckle, I’m sure this is one thing Matt will take full responsibility for.
Lisa: “Alright, Ivy – it’s your turn.”
Ivy: “I’m ready.”
She says with that cheerful smile in place. Oh…little does she know, I’m not holding back!
Lisa: “Where the heck did you find the balls to proposition Archer for the ‘two week’ deal? I can’t lie, I tip my hat to you – but damn girl! That took some balls!”
Ivy: “Listen, I finally decided to go after what I wanted and what I wanted was…Archer. So I made the offer, knowing he’d take me up on it and it worked. I’m sly like that.”
She winks at me. The look on my face can’t be described with one emotion. Combine shock, awe, surprise and admiration into one expression and that’s probably what I look like. So I do the only thing I can do in this situation. I high five her. Ivy giggles at me and I even hear Archer chuckling at our antics.
Lisa: “Okay, I get that…and you’re awesome for it – but why didn’t you make him work harder when he came to apologize?! You could have made him grovel, beg, plead – made him squirm a little – come on Ivy, what gives?”
Ivy: “I know he felt bad. I’m not one to draw it out or make a man fall to his knees. Plus, it’s Archer. I’ve known him forever and I knew if I pushed or asked for more groveling, he might get mad and walk away. I didn’t want him to walk away. After all, a man has his pride. “
Lisa: “True…I guess.”
I grumble – not the answer I was expecting, but I do understand her point.
Lisa: “So, did you really decide to open your own interior design company? Archer was making you an offer you can’t refuse…” 😉
The bright smile that takes over Ivy’s face says it all.
Ivy: “I did! Best decision I’ve ever made in my life. It was scary but I went for it and it’s worked out well for me. Very well.”
Lisa: “That’s awesome! I’m so glad to hear it’s all working out – I think you’ll do much better on your own. Were you surprised at Gage’s acceptance of your relationship? Sorry Archer, but once again I feel like he had it a little too easy!”
Archer raises an eyebrow out me – I swear, I do love him, but damn it…I think he should have had to suffer more. Call me a masochist if you must.
Ivy: “I was surprised but now I think Gage suspected something for a while. Gage loves Archer like a brother. He’s been a part of our life for so long, he’s a natural fit within our family. But then again…Gage has already warned him off that if he does me wrong, Gage will kick his ass. Men.”
Lisa: “That’s a good big brother! Oh and because I’m a nosey Rosie – how was that two person bathtub!?!” 😛
Ivy blushes and Archer gets an evil smile on his face.
Ivy: “It’s um…pretty awesome?”
Archer has a sly smile and I can’t stop giggling – I embarrassed her! Yay! 😀
Lisa: “Alright Ivy, I’ll stop picking on you, how about some together questions? You’ve obviously known each other a long time – what’s one thing you remember about the other from growing up? Could be good, bad or indifferent but something memorable from the past that you will never forget.”
Archer: “Seeing Ivy for the first time. She must’ve been twelve or thirteen. I was like who the hell is THAT?”
Ivy rolls eyes and I stifle a laugh.
Ivy: “Jerk.”
Archer: “What? It’s true. And look at us now.”
Ivy: “Whatever. I remember when he and Gage were at our house with their senior prom dates. I remember how good Archer looked in his tux and how jealous I was of his date. Then I got disgusted with myself for thinking Archer was hot.”
Archer: “ Now that’s a memorable moment.”
Ivy rolls her eyes again.
Lisa: “In your defense Ivy, I can’t imagine Archer looks bad in anything, let alone a tux. What are your five favorite characteristics about the other – physical and non physical.”
Archer: “Ivy is smart, driven, beautiful, kind and she keeps me sane amongst the insanity that is my life.”
I’m seriously swooning over here.
Ivy: “Aw, you’re so sweet.”
Archer: “It’s the truth.”
Archer leans over to kiss Ivy and I melt a little more.
Ivy: “Well. Okay.”
Ivy’s cute, little coy smile tells me she’s swooning as much as I am.
Ivy: “Archer is thoughtful, outrageous, sexy, intelligent and he is the best kisser ever.”
Archer: “Kisser? You love me for my kissing skills?”
Ivy: “You’re very talented with your mouth.”
She says with a wink. There’s my spicy Ivy!
Lisa: “I’m afraid I’ll have to trust your judgment on the “talented with his mouth” comment – but if you ever need confirmation of that fact, just let me know! Biggest pet peeve?”
Ivy: “When he calls me chicken.”
Archer: “When she snores. Did you know she snores? Keeps me up at night.”
I don’t even hide my giggling at this point.
Ivy: “I don’t think that’s the problem keeping you up at night.”
Archer: “What are you trying to say?”
Ivy: “Never mind. “
She leans in my direction and whispers,
Ivy: “Pervert.”
Now I’m just doubled over I am laughing so hard. After I compose myself, I continue.
Lisa: “What’s your favorite memory from the two weeks you spent together before the opening of Crave?”
Archer: “Just…being with Ivy. Spending so much time with her, all day and night, brought us closer together. We were so damn busy but it was fun too you know? Creating something together, getting to know each other better, all those long nights…”
*Swoon*
Ivy: “Don’t say it. Don’t say what we were doing those long nights.”
Well…now that has my eyebrow arched with curiosity…
Archer: “C’mon Ivy, they know what we were doing.”
Ivy: “Everything he said, I agree with. Just being with him is my favorite memory. I really fell in love with him during those two weeks.”
Swoon again – I love them!
Lisa: “Any other ‘joint ventures’ in the works? It seems you both work well together.”
Archer: “She’s currently working on Matt’s new winery. After that…I think we’re going to work on our joint venture of getting married.”
Ivy: “We do work well together. And I’m very very excited about our upcoming wedding.”
Lisa: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”
Archer: “Married to Ivy of course. Maybe with a bunch of my own hotels all over the place. We’ll travel together and she can help me design the new locations…”
Ivy: “We won’t be able to travel much with the children.”
Archer audibly gulps.
Archer: “Children? As in more than one?”
The look on his face is almost as proicessless as the look of glee on Ivy’s.
Ivy: “You never know. I’d like to have two relatively close together.”
Archer: “God woman, I think you’re trying to kill me.”
I catch Ivy’s eye and we both share a giggle at Archer’s pain.
Lisa: “Time to think fast, a little rapid fire questions…either or – pick one…Hush or Crave ?”
Archer: “Hush”
Ivy: “Hush”
Lisa: “Hard or Soft?”
They turn to each other, a slightly devious glint in both their eyes.
Archer: “Soft (as in, I’m thinking of Ivy)”
Mmmmm…
Ivy: “Hard (and I’m thinking of Archer, ahem)”
Mmmmmhmmmm…God I love these two.
Lisa: “Chocolate or Vanilla?”
Archer: “Chocolate”
Ivy: “Vanilla”
Lisa: “Fast or Slow ?”
Archer: “Can I say both?”
Ivy: “Definitely both”
Lisa: “Both is good. 😉 Books or movies?”
Archer: “Movies”
No surprise there…typical guy.
Ivy: “Books”
I knew I loved Ivy for a reason.
Lisa: “Hot or Cold ?”
Archer: “Hot”
Ivy: “Hot”
Lisa: “Go out or stay in ?”
Archer: “Stay in”
Ivy: “Stay in”
Lisa: “City or country?”
Archer: “Both again…”
Ivy: “I agree with Archer.”
Lisa: “Alright, last round – word association, tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Gage?”
Archer: “Best friend”
Ivy: “Brother”
Lisa: “Bet?”
Archer: “Pain in my ass”
Ivy: “Ugh”
I’m almost in physical pain from how much I’ve laughed with these two.
Lisa: “Chicken?”
Archer: “Ivy”
Ivy: “Irritating!”
Still laughing…turning to Ivy I ask,
Lisa: “Archer?”
Ivy: “Love”
Aww…I smile and turn to Archer and ask,
Lisa: “Ivy?”
Archer: “Mine”
H.O.T. – God I love a good caveman!
Lisa: “Last one, I promise! Love?”
Archer: “Ivy”
Ivy: “Archer”
And I’m swooning. Over both of them. I swear, I’m in dreamland with how much I adore these two. They both turn to each other, lock eyes and share a sweet kiss. Archer turns back to me and with a courteous smile says,
Archer: “I’m sorry to have to run, but I’ve got a meeting I have to get to”
He rises from the table and I stand to shake his hand – once again restraining my desire to leap into his arms. He turns to Ivy, who has rise to give him a hug and proper kiss and asks her,
Archer: “You’ll be taking care of our special visitor , won’t you?”
She grins at him and then turns to my shocked faces and replies,
Ivy: “Of course.”
I spent the rest of the day in the lap of luxury at Crave with Ivy. After a few hours at the spa, we ended the day enjoying a lovely dinner out on the terrace while the sun set and we finished off a bottle of wine. It’s an absolute glorious way to spend a day and with the nicest company. I can’t wait to bring the hubs back to Crave so we can thoroughly enjoy everything this resort has to offer. 😀
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*
3 “chicken” “Humpty Dumpty” kisses
I am a deep lover of Monica Murphy and all the yumminess that emanates from her brain. She has a talent for creating drool worthy book bf’s and she did not disappoint me with Archer. At all. Crave was that ‘just right blend’ of a little angst, sexual tension and steam, and left me with all the warm, fuzzy feelings I love.
Ivy Emerson – she’s a 24 year old interior designer, gorgeous, brown hair, hazel eyes and what I like to call a ‘fixer’. I related to her in that aspect – I too like to fix things. Ivy likes to fix guys. The hopeless ones…the ones beyond repair…she tries, God bless her little heart. Her biggest challenge of all would just so happen to be her brother’s best friend…the guy she has always wanted…the one who will probably never see her as anything other than Gage’s little sister. She’s known him since she was 12, so she really knows how he is and what to expect. Or so she thinks.
‘If I’m going to consider a relationship with a guy that’s what I want. What I need. A spark. Chemistry. A few stolen kisses, wandering hands, whispered words in a quiet corner where someone might catch us. He’d press me up against a wall, cradle my face in his hands, and kiss me like he means it…’
Archer Bancroft…he’s young (28), he’s powerful, he’s successful. His family has always had money and while his dad gave him a chance, expecting him to fail, he turned around and made it an incredibly successful operation. He’s built his success on his own and doesn’t take that for granted. But at the end of the day, business is business and Archer likes to enjoy his pleasure…he’s still out to have a good time, no commitments and no ties. Except for her. Ivy is the exception but she has always been hands off. She is Gage’s little sister after all.
‘With the exception of one woman and I absolutely cannot touch her. She’s too young, too sweet, too good, too everything I’m not. She’s so fucking tempting and so completely off limits, I’d be a damn fool to attempt anything with her.
But I want to. Desperately.’
So it’s Archer Bancroft, Gage Emerson, and Matt DeLuca – three rich, powerful, handsome bachelor’s…best friends…and all with the same mindset – don’t settle down. Easy enough, right? Especially for Archer since the only woman he would ever consider is completely out of the question. I loved the concept, it’s fun and has a lot of possibilities, especially with these characters. We get both Archer and Ivy’s POV throughout the book. It switches, sometimes in the same chapter but it’s very well identified so you always know whose POV you are in. I liked being in both of their heads and instead of spelling out every detail from both POV’s, there was no backtracking – you got one POV on each scene – which was different…a little nice because there wasn’t any redundancy.
‘Chucking, his dark brown eyes flash. It’s not fair how pretty he is. He has that strong jaw and lush mouth. The dimple that makes such a rare appearance that whenever I see it, I immediately want to kiss it. Lick it.’
I really enjoyed Archer and Ivy’s connection and chemistry. There is just something about a couple who knows each other as well as they do, it just makes me giddy. So there was minimal angst in this – enough to keep me a little tied up but I was never worried about Archer and Ivy. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Sometimes I need books like this because you can get ‘over angst’ and my little heart can only take so much…but I do feel like Archer needed to suffer a little bit more at the end. I know he did, kind of, but I felt like Ivy took him back too quickly – even if she just toyed with him and made him think she was going to make him suffer – anything! I mean what he did was forgivable but still! He was a little shit and needed to be taught a lesson. His apology was pretty freakin amazing though…so I can’t blame Ivy too much.
‘And I want to be branded by her. Despite my reluctance of ever becoming involved with a woman, Ivy’s the only one who I both want to be with and want to run away from.
Yeah I make no damn sense.’
And I swear, I’m not an ‘Archer Hater’ but seriously…not only did he get off easy with Ivy, but Gage too! Like I said, none of his actions were horrible or unforgiveable, but…it really seemed like he skated thru unscathed. In that aspect, I would have liked more angst – that I could have handled. The only other part that bothered me were the things we didn’t get to see. Archer and Ivy spend two weeks together – finally getting to be together, as part of the ‘deal’ she works out with him. We don’t get to see any of it. That sucked! All this build up and then I felt like I got cheated out of all the goodies. I don’t need to see every day but give me something. And like the talk between Archer and Gage…that’s pretty important factor, and we don’t get to see it at all.
‘Archer Bancroft is my ultimate failure. That Humpty Dumpty of a man can never, ever be put back together again. I won’t even bother trying.’
All that aside, this was a cute and fast read with characters that I just outright love. I am very excited about Torn with Gage and Marina. Gage I think is worse off than Archer was and Archer was the ultimate bachelor! Plus Marina just seems like a spicy little thing from the tease we get at the end of Crave and I can’t wait to see what happens with the two of them. Crave was great start to the Billionaire Bachelor Club and I am excited to see what happens next! 🙂
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite. A wife and mother of three, she writes New Adult and contemporary romance for Bantam and Avon. She is the author of One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend.
